A father and son who run a stall at Marsaxlokk's Sunday market were today granted bail following their arraignment over a violent scuffle with two plainclothes police officers.

Fouad Tayel, 58, and his 18-year-old son Omar Fouad Tayel, both Egyptian nationals living in Żejtun, were selling their wares at the market when the officers parked their vehicle inside a lot next to the men's stall.

An argument broke out between the hawkers and the newcomers despite one of the officers, a policewoman, telling the pair in fluent Arabic that they were members of the police corps.

As the argument flared up, one of the accused seized a clothes hanger and assaulted the policewoman, who suffered slight injuries and needed to be treated in hospital. The woman complained of stomach pains and medical tests had reportedly certified that she had suffered some internal bleeding.

The other officer, a male constable who intervened when the argument turned nasty, also ended up in the fray.

The men were charged with having threatened, assaulted and slightly injured the public officers. They were also charged with having refused to obey lawful orders and supply their personal details to the police. The son alone was charged with having damaged third party property.

Before duty magistrate Josette Demicoli, the two men pleaded not guilty and requested bail. This was strongly objected to by the prosecution, who argued that such behaviour was especially egregious because the targeted victims were representatives of the law. “Just as the hawkers were about their business, so too were the police performing their duty," the prosecutor said. 

However, the defence argued that in this case there were no civilian witnesses to be summoned and the prosecution had brought no evidence of any fear that the accused might abscond. Moreover, defence lawyers argued, the accused were innocent until proven guilty and this could not be dismissed.

The court upheld the request, granting both father and son bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €5,000 each. The two must sign the bail book three times a week and are to observe a curfew between 11.30pm and 5.30am.

Inspector Johann J Fenech prosecuted. Lawyer Martha Mifsud was defence counsel.

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