Fined after Paceville mishap

A 27-year-old man was fined Lm300 for injuring two men who intervened to stop him from bothering a Russian woman.

Magistrate Edwina Grima found Timothy Briffa guilty of slightly injuring Elton John Caruana and Malcolm Mallia in Paceville on November 3, 2006.

The magistrate heard the victims explain how an argument broke out when Mr Briffa was bothering the Russian girlfriend of one of the men. When they intervened to stop him he punched them and injured them.

However, Mr Briffa said he was minding his own business when the woman hit him with her bag without being provoked and he was then surrounded by three men for no apparent reason.

Faced with two conflicting versions of events, the magistrate noted that on the day of the incident Mr Caruana and Mr Mallia had called for the police and, when officers arrived, Mr Briffa ran away. This gave his version of events less credibility.

Police Inspector Carlo Ellul prosecuted.