A man allegedly involved in a fight at a construction site four years ago has been cleared over lack of evidence after the other man forgave him and told court the two were now friends.

Shamison Stafrace, 25, was charged with grievously injuring his alleged victim on February 26 of 2018 at Sqaq il-Knisja, when he turned up at the Żabbar construction site to confront the other man over rumours that the victim would run him over.

Shortly after 2pm, the alleged victim walked into the local police station to report that he had been attacked by Stafrace whom he said had grabbed a piece of wood and struck him on the head. 

Stafrace was subsequently charged with grievously injuring the alleged victim.

A doctor from the Paola health centre, who examined the injured man later that afternoon, testified that the patient had a four-centimetre cut on his left eyelid.

A medical forensic expert confirmed that that injury had resulted in a visible scar compatible with blunt trauma.

The alleged victim also took the witness stand, stating that he had since forgiven his aggressor and the two were now friends.

A third party, who had stepped in to break up the fight, could shed no light on the dynamics of the incident and could only confirm that right afterwards, the alleged aggressor had left the scene.

When delivering judgment, the court, presided over by magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, observed that there was evidence showing that the alleged victim had suffered grievous and permanent injuries. 

However, that evidence did not provide sufficient peace of mind about the dynamics of the incident.

No evidence about that was given by the victim himself when testifying, while the testimony of the police officer who had taken down the victim’s report amounted to hearsay evidence.

As for the third party, who had gone shopping when the fight took place, he could only confirm that he came across the alleged victim with blood on his face. 

It was the alleged victim who had told him that he had been hit with a piece of wood.

When all was considered, the court could not tell who of the two had actually started the argument and whether the accused had acted in self-defence, concluded the court, thus pronouncing an acquittal. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.