A 14-year old schoolboy was granted bail on Wednesday afternoon after pleading not guilty to slightly injuring another boy with a small screwdriver during an argument over a girl.
The teen was escorted to court under arrest, his mother and an elderly relative in tow, facing charges over the violent incident which took place on Monday evening at his home town, Marsascala.
The alleged victim had later turned up at the local police station claiming that he had been stabbed by his former friend.
Police headed to the home of the suspected aggressor who showed the officers the small screwdriver attached to a keychain which was allegedly the weapon used against the other boy.
The slight-statured 14-year old was charged with attempted grievous bodily harm, slight injuring his victim, possessing a weapon while committing a crime against the person, breaching public peace as well as insulting and threatening his rival. He was accompanied in court by his father.
During arguments on bail, lawyer Ishmael Psaila, appearing for the victim, pointed out that the two boys had “many common friends” and the rivalry between them was such that the situation could have ended up much worse.
Defence lawyer Mario Caruana countered that the victim’s father was prompting his lawyer in court.
And apparently the alleged victim was also to face charges over the incident, the court was told.
“Is that true?”asked Magistrate Nadine Lia, asked prosecuting Inspector Darryl Farr. She also asked why the other boy had not also been arraigned under arrest.
The inspector replied that the other boy had only punched the accused, whereas the accused had made use of a weapon. The alleged victim would likely be charged under summons.
“All we want is safety,” remarked the victim’s lawyer.
“So do we,” rebutted the defence.
At that stage the accused's mother said she wished to make sure that the alleged victim and his family would not post provocative messages threatening her son as they had already done.
After hearing submissions and after being informed that the accused’s family had limited means, the court granted bail against a personal guarantee of €3000, a curfew between 8pm and 6am, and one weekly signing of the bail book.
The magistrate went on to explain in simple terms the implications of those bail conditions, stressing the responsibility they placed upon the young boy who stood attentively before her, occasionally raising a finger to ask some further question, while his mother stood right behind him.
“You could have been taken away to juvenile detention today. It’s very, very serious. You’ll be going home with mum today….what happens from today onwards will depend on you alone,”warned the magistrate, pointing out the pitfalls the schoolboy was to avoid at all costs to avoid losing bail.