A Gozitan father who bit off part of his daughter’s former boyfriend’s ear in an argument was given a suspended sentence for exceeding the limits of legitimate self-defence.
An argument between the two men broke out in June 2017 when the latter turned up unannounced at the man’s door.
Lawrence Sultana, the 60-year-old from Victoria, ended up facing prosecution for involuntary grievous bodily harm to the man who had been in a three-year relationship with his daughter.
The younger man had turned up at his ex’s residence to collect some personal belongings and had been met at the door by the girl’s father demanding “What are you doing here?”
The cold reception and the visitor’s refusal to leave when asked to do so by his ex’s father had resulted in an argument wherein the younger man’s left ear was partly bitten off.
The alleged victim, bleeding profusely, had rushed straight to the police station in a state of shock and was directed to the health centre for treatment.
In the course of criminal proceedings against the father, the court was presented with two conflicting versions of the scuffle which had broken out inside the accused’s garage.
The accused alleged that he had acted in self-defence when the visitor had flown at him, attacking him after refusing to leave, claiming that the victim might have been injured whilst being pushed out through the aluminum door.
However, the court, presided over by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, observed that it was more credible that the injury had resulted from a bite.
Although the accused had possibly acted in legitimate self-defence, his reaction had been excessive, the court declared, remarking that the relationship breakup ought not to have involved anyone else except the accused’s daughter and the injured party.
On the basis of the evidence put forward, the court declared the man guilty of excess in legitimate self-defence, condemning him to a one-year jail term suspended for three years and binding him not to approach the victim against a personal bond of €2,000 applicable for one year.