A man who struck another with a baton and allegedly ignored police instructions to steer clear of the victim was remanded in custody on Thursday. 

Matthew Charles Costigan, a 35-year-old self-employed estate agent, had long been at loggerheads with the victim, who runs a confectionery and a car wash close to the alleged aggressor's San Ġwann home. 

The pair have been filing reports against each other for years and were locked in criminal proceedings, the court was told today when Costigan was arraigned under arrest.

Matters came to a head on Monday when the men’s paths crossed just as the accused was entering his home with his son.

The other man allegedly brushed against him, “puffing up his chest". That move triggered a verbal spat which soon escalated into a physical confrontation.

The accused drew out a telescopic baton from his bag and struck the other man four times on the head, explained prosecuting Inspector Jean Paul Attard.

The alleged aggressor himself turned up at the police station to report that incident.

He was warned not to approach the other man and was instructed to call at the police headquarters the following day to release a statement.

Costigan complied, telling police that he did what he did because he was afraid of the other man.

He was still waiting for justice to be served in the other cases and had reacted when the alleged victim brushed against him, the accused told police. 

He was warned to steer clear of the victim, his family and employees.

But within an hour, the alleged aggressor flung a bucketful of water onto the van of the victim’s brother. The latter forwarded the footage of the incident to the police on Wednesday.

'Today I hurt him. I don't know what might happen tomorrow'

It transpired that before going to the police station following Monday’s clash, he allegedly called the victim’s brother warning: “today I hurt him [the victim] and he went to the hospital. I don’t know what might happen tomorrow”.

In light of all circumstances and to avoid further trouble, the police obtained an arrest warrant on Wednesday and executed it on Thursday, escorting Costigan to court.

He pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring the alleged victim, assaulting, insulting and threatening him as well as breaching the peace. 

The prosecution objected to a request for bail. The accused lived close to the victim’s shops and had ignored previous police warnings, meaning that he could possibly repeat the alleged wrongdoing. 

Parte civile lawyer Edmond Cuschieri followed up this argument, stressing that the accused appeared to have a problem with authorities, although his criminal record could not be described as “colourful”.

But when police gave him an order, he did not obey, argued the victim’s lawyer.

“He needs to be taught a lesson,” the lawyer argued.

The accused’s lawyer, Roberto Spiteri, countered that the situation had escalated over the ‘bucket incident’ which, given that the two were constantly at loggerheads, had unfortunately been misinterpreted.

The accused had simply emptied the water from his air conditioning unit and it landed on the van, argued the lawyer. 

The police had been receiving reports from both parties.

“They don’t see eye to eye. But there’s no angel and devil in this," he added.

Moreover, as a self-employed person, the accused would suffer prejudice if sent to jail even for a week, went on the lawyer.

However, after hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, denied bail since the accused did not satisfy the necessary legal guarantees.