A man summoned to a police station on Thursday for having insulted two Transport Malta officials managed to make a bad situation worse after he got into a fight with six police officers.
Johann Cassar, 28 and from Cospicua, was denied bail on Friday after pleading not guilty to charges related to the two incidents.
Magistrate Gabriella Vella, presiding over the arraignment, heard how Mr Cassar had shown up at Cospicua police station at 7.30pm on Thursday for questioning over an alleged episode of reckless driving along the Vittoriosa seafront a few days earlier.
On that occasion, the man had allegedly got into an argument with two Transport Malta Law Enforcement Officers who had stopped him for over speeding.
Mr Cassar had allegedly been driving a Renault Laguna dangerously, in excess of the legal speed limit, without a licence, without an insurance cover and also without wearing a seatbelt.
Although Mr Cassar showed up at Cospicua police station on Thursday following the incident, his arrival soon resulted in another confrontation with six police officers, prompting his arrest and arraignment on Friday morning.
Besides facing charges over the earlier incident, Mr Cassar was also charged with having on Thursday insulted or threatened the police officers, attacked or violently resisted them, spat at one of the constables and breached the peace.
He was further charged with having breached the conditions of three Supervision Orders imposed under three separate judgments by the Magistrates’ Courts.
“I did nothing wrong,” the man placidly declared, upon hearing Inspector Josric Mifsud explain the three-page long charges in court.
“He has been given several chances, but has ignored them,” Inspector Mifsud pointed out, adding that the man had proved arrogant and rude towards the police.
A request for bail was turned down by the court in view of the man’s apparent lack of trustworthiness which meant that he would not likely observe bail conditions.
Upon a request by defence lawyer Franco Debono, the court recommended that the accused be held at Mount Carmel since such an option would be more beneficial in view of the man’s state of health. Lawyer Amadeus Cachia was also defence counsel.