A British national residing in St Paul's Bay, who allegedly reacted violently when a group of young revellers jokingly borrowed his bicycle after a drinking spree at a local bar, was this afternoon remanded in custody pending a psychiatric report in his regard.
Simon Anthony Robert Tartaglia, 34, from St Paul's Bay was escorted under arrest to face charges of causing grievious bodily harm to a young man, carrying a knife without police licence, breaching earlier bail conditions, threatening the four men with physical violence and disturbing the public peace.
Magistrate Gabriella Vella, heard Inspector Godwin Scerri explain how at around 3.30am on Saturday, police at the St Paul's Bay station received information about an alleged stabbing in Pioneer Road.
The officers came across the young man, a Czech national, lying on the ground, bleeding from a facial wound. Investigations led to the arrest of Mr Tartaglia as the suspect behind the alleged stabbing.
In red shorts, a white t-shirt, flip flops and an arm bandage, the accused who is unemployed, stood before the magistrate, declaring ‘No comment’ in reply to the charges in court.
With a rather perplexed expression, he listened as his defence lawyer expressed doubts upon her client's mental state, requesting the appointment of a psychiatrist to assess whether the man was fit to undergo trial. The prosecution raised no objection, provided that the medical expert should also determine whether the accused had any history of psychiatric problems.
Meanwhile, however, two of the party who had witnessed the alleged aggression and who are currently in Malta on holiday, testified about the events.
Both witnesses recalled how at around 2.15am on Saturday, just as the party of four left the bar where they had been drinking, they had a chance encounter with the accused who happened to be riding along on his red bike.
The victim had sidled up to the rider, jokingly asking him to try out his bike. Although the owner apparently agreed to the request, he soon appeared to have a change of heart when the young Czech fell over, bike and all, after having covered a distance of some ten metres.
The witnesses explained how the accused had suddenly begun to yell, charging at the victim with a small pointed instrument which, in the night light, appeared to be a knife. One of the victim’s friends tried to push away the aggressor who fell over three times, each time getting back to his feet and rushing to attack the man who had crashed his bike.
As the accused allegedly lashed out at his victim the latter was wounded over the cheekbone, on the neck and under his arm.
Although the witnesses admitted that they had all been “a little bit drunk”, they had meant no harm. “It was just fun,” one of the men told the court.
The defence requested bail, arguing that the accused had a fixed address and did not know any of the witnesses, including the victim, who were still to testify. However, the prosecution objected pointing out that the accused lived in the same locality as the remaining witnesses and had already breached bail earlier bail conditions.
The court remanded the accused in custody and put off the case to a date later this month pending the completion of the psychiatric report.
Inspector Godwin Scerri prosecuted. Lawyer Sarah Pirotta Chircop Beck was defence counsel.