Father, son accused of assaulting lawyer

A man and his son were yesterday charged with assaulting and seriously injuring a lawyer at his Valletta office on Monday afternoon.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani heard Philip Camilleri, 56, of St Paul's Bay and his 26-year-old son, also called Philip, of Marsa plead not guilty to injuring Tonio Azzopardi, holding him against his will and using violence to force him to do their bidding at about 5.30 p.m.

They were also charged with stealing over Lm1,000 from the lawyer's office, exercising a presumed right over his property and causing damage at his office.

Lawyer Martin Fenech, for the Camilleris, asked for bail. He explained that his clients told him the incident arose over a schedule of deposit of over Lm5,000.

Dr Azzopardi, he explained, had represented the wife of Mr Camilleri (senior) as legal aide in a civil case that he won about six months ago.

At the end of the court case the Camilleris were to withdraw a schedule of deposit they had deposited in court. They later learnt that it had been in Dr Azzopardi's control and so they went to his office on Monday to demand the money once it belonged to them.

Dr Fenech said his clients were alleging that Dr Azzopardi asked them to leave and teased them with a cheque for Lm1,000 which he wrote but refused to hand over to them. The incident, he added, broke out because his clients had been provoked.

The Camilleris were granted bail on condition they do not leave their house and were bound by a Lm500 deposit and a personal guarantee of Lm5,000 each.

Police Inspector Pierre Micallef Grimaud prosecuted.