A father of three ended up in court after he saw red when a gang of around 20 festa enthusiasts started fighting near his house, terrifying his wife and kids.

Carmelo Falzon, a 44- year old self-employed man from Qormi, had allegedly rushed home after the fight broke out on Thursday at 3pm, by which time they had damaged a nearby property with a forklift.

When Mr Falzon arrived on the scene, he made sure his wife and daughter were safe and sound, then turned upon the gang of men, in a highly agitated state, demanding an explanation for the damage also caused to his property.

By then officers from the local police station together with members from the Rapid Intervention Unit, arrived at the site in St Peter’s Street, Qormi, and attempted to calm down the situation.

However, they allegedly found it hard to keep Mr Falzon away from the gang.

Blinded by anger, he would hear none of it and had to be physically restrained, with two officers being slightly injured in the process. One of them reportedly ended up with a strained back, while the other one suffered slight injuries on his forearms.

Mr Falzon was arrested on the spot and marched to court within 24 hours, pleading not guilty to charges of having threatened the police, violently resisting arrest, refusing to obey lawful orders, causing involuntary slight injuries to two officers and also breaching the peace.

“This man never had any brush with the law. He was a victim of circumstances,” defence counsel Martha Mifsud argued.

“The fight broke out between third parties and my client went to check out his property,” adding that had the police not intervened the scenario might have turned out very differently. “We would probably have ended up here as parte civile,” the lawyer continued.

However, prosecuting inspector Roderick Agius countered that the man had let his temper get the better of him, paying no heed to persistent calls by the police to “Stop ! Calm down!”

“Had he been a sensible family man as the defence is portraying him to be, he would have controlled his anger and stopped when the police intervened,” Inspector Agius said.

“That’s why I fear that there might be other incidents should this man be let out on bail. There is an increased risk of incidents especially during the festa when copious amounts of alcohol are consumed,” the inspector continued.

In spite of the defence's arguments, duty magistrate Marse-Anne Farrugia turned down the request for bail concluding that there was a real fear that the man would commit another offence during the festa preparations and the subsequent dismantling of decorations.

Since the man could possibly encounter the people who had aroused his anger, the court rejected the request for bail. “It appears that the accused is incapable of controlling himself when he’s angry.”

The man was led away handcuffed, accompanied by the desperate sobs of his wife waiting outside the courtroom. “Why are they taking him to jail?” the woman cried.

Inspector Shaun Friggieri also prosecuted.