A 50-year-old man from Cospicua was jailed for three years after he was found guilty by a court of grievously injuring a man outside a Paceville Bar three years ago.

In its decision, the court presided by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, noted how the accused, Spiridione Costa, had not learnt anything from his past mistakes in spite of spending time in jail after over several other convictions. Consequently, the court said it could show no clemency towards the defendant and opted for a severe punishment.

During proceedings it transpired that, on December 1, 2013 at about 1am, a fight broke out in a bar in Paceville.  The altercation had started when a certain Karl Grima had asked the accused to return his lighter when the latter suddenly brandished a flick knife. The fight continued outside the establishment when the victim, Paul Galea, tried to calm down the situation and asked the accused to return the article he had borrowed.

Instead, he got stabbed in his stomach. Another man, Sean Borg, suffered slight injuries also at the hands of the defendant, the court heard.

Subsequently, Mr Grima managed to seize the weapon from the accused and threw it away in a front garden of a nearby residence, from where it was later recovered by the police.

In his police statement, the accused had recounted that he was drinking at the bar at about 9pm when somebody he knew by sight bought him a large glass of vodka. While acknowledging that he was heavily drunk, he denied he was carrying a flick knife or that he had been involved in an argument over a cigarette lighter.

However, he told the police he could remember very little of what happened. According to the accused, he was later told by third parties that a fight had broken out after he tried to help himself directly from a bottle of vodka, but the situation calmed down after he apologised.  Asked how he ended up with several stitches in his face, he said he had been punched but could not explain how the incident happened.

In its decision, the court said the version of events given by the victims was confirmed by two other witnesses and that from the circumstances of the case it transpired that the accused was drunk.

The court noted that it was not clear how the defendant had ended up with stitches in his face, and that the prosecution did not summon any witnesses for an explanation.

It found Mr Costa guilty of all charges, including relapsing and sentenced him to jail. Police inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted.