A 32-year-old man has admitted in court to having threatened his former flatmate with a knife during a spat about air conditioning.
Mohamed Mousbah Ali Zaid, a 32-year-old Libyan resident in San Ġwann, admitted on Wednesday to clashes with his former flatmate that led the victim to report him to the police’s domestic violence unit.
Police inspector Sherona Buhagiar said the first incident occurred on September 6, when Zaid and the victim were still living together.
The two had an argument about the air conditioner, after which Zaid threatened the man with a knife and told him he was going to kill him, she said.
The victim barred himself in a bathroom and escaped the house through a window. After this incident, the victim was offered a place at a shelter and no longer continued to live with Zaid.
But the issue continued on September 14, when the victim was driving in St Julian’s and heard somebody calling and insulting him. He reversed his car and Zaid banged on it with his hand, causing some damage to the body.
The victim got out of his car and the two ended up in a scuffle, in which Zaid pushed the man, who fell and broke a finger.
The prosecution said it would not be insisting on an effective jail term but it asked the court to issue a restraining order in favour of the victim.
The defence argued that this was a one-time blip on Zaid’s otherwise clean criminal record and that in its view, the cause of the disagreement between the two men had been removed when the alleged victim left the shared living quarters. It asked for the court to consider the most lenient sentence possible given the circumstances.
Magistrate Caruana sentenced Zaid to two years probation and granted a two-year restraining order in favour of the victim. He also ordered him to pay for the damage he had caused to the victim’s car.
“You aren’t going to prison today, but I don’t want you to think you are leaving here as if nothing happened,” the Magistrate warned.
“If you keep out of trouble for the next two years, you can put this whole thing behind you forever, but if not, there will be consequences.”
Defence lawyers Noel Bianco and Ibtisam Sadegh appeared for Zaid.