A father and son were arraigned in court on Monday accused of attacking their relative with a spirit level.

However, according to the defence, the altercation had occurred because the victim had allegedly insulted one of the accused’s recently deceased baby.

Waled Ebou Ismail, 56, the victim’s uncle, and Khaled Eibo, 26, the victim’s cousin, were charged with attacking the man and causing him slight injuries, causing him to fear violence, threatening him, damaging his car windscreen and breaching the public peace.

The father and son duo were both born in Syria, with Ismail currently residing in Bulgaria and Eibo holding a Maltese residence permit. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Police Inspector Audrey Micallef said that on Friday at 11pm the Ħamrun police station received reports that an argument had broken out and when police went on site, they found a man lying on the pavement bleeding from a headwound.

He was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance. When the police came to interview him, he told them that his attackers had been his uncle and cousin and that he had been sitting in his car when the incident occurred.

He told them that he had noticed his cousin’s car approaching when the two men got out of the vehicle and attacked him with a spirit level.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono told the court that the incident had only come about because the victim had allegedly used the recent death of Eibo’s six-month-old baby to insult him.

The prosecution objected to a request for bail, saying that there was a serious fear that they could tamper with evidence and in the case of the father, posed a threat of absconding due to holding residency in Bulgaria.

However, the defence argued that the son has strong ties to Malta, keeping a home with his wife in St Paul’s Bay and working as a tile layer.

The father was no tourist either, they said, as he regularly visited the island to be with his family.

If bail was granted, it would be possible for him to reside with the son and his wife at their home. The family is going through a traumatic time and is still in the process of making funeral arrangements for their child, they said.

Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace rejected both requests for bail, citing a real fear that evidence could be tampered with and in the case of the father, the possibility that he could abscond.

Police Inspector Audrey Micallef prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Noel Bianco appeared for the accused.