In what could well be a Shakespearian tragedy, a Nigerian who, on his knees at the door of his girlfriend’s house, begged her father for her hand in marriage but was turned away, has been placed under probation for two years.

The father, Alfred Bugeja also known Il-Porporina, refused to give his consent to the marriage request and his 18-year-old daughter Giannella, given an ultimatum by her father, decided to remain at home.

The plot thickened when the police arrived to remove the man from in front of the Valletta house and he tried to run away, in the process fracturing an officer’s wrist, landing him in court.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani heard that, on the afternoon of April 5, 2007, Jude Okeakpu Chinonso, at the time aged 27, had just found out his girlfriend was pregnant and he went straight to her father’s house to obtain his permission to marry her.

Mr Bugeja, whom the accused knew was a “notorious” criminal, “refused an audience but the accused kept on knocking at the door and begging to be heard”, the magistrate said.

At that point Mr Bugeja called the police and gave his daughter a choice.

Panicked and confused because she had wanted to marry her boyfriend, Ms Bugeja decided to stay with her father.

As the officers escorted Mr Chinonso to the police station, he was emotionally shattered and was even crying in the car. Then, in a flash, he jumped out of the police car and ran to the Prime Minister’s office. The officers chased him and he headed towards the bastions and threatened to jump off.

“It was only thanks to the prompt action of the police who managed to calm him down that the accused still lives to tell the tale,” the magistrate said in her judgment.

Dr Padovani said at no point was he ever under arrest and so he could not be found guilty of escaping police custody. Furthermore, he was asked to go to the police station to hand over personal items belonging to Ms Bugeja.

The magistrate said she had no doubt the grievous injuries suffered by the officer were unfortunate. She wondered whether he had any intention to cause any harm at all.

She found him guilty of involuntary bodily harm and placed him under probation for two years.

Police Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted.

Lawyer Leslie Cuschieri appeared for Mr Chinonso.

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