A violent fight between a landlord and his tenant landed another man under probation in “one last chance” by the court to “effectively tackle his drug problem”.
Silvester Zahra, 31, from Siġġiewi, was targeted by criminal prosecution over his involvement in the violent fight which broke out in August 2011, late one evening at Żebbuġ when the accused had accompanied a friend who had to sort out some issues with his former landlord.
A verbal altercation ensued between the landlord and his former tenant, Joseph Borg, out on the street while three friends, who had accompanied the latter to the meeting, sat on a pavement nearby, taking in the heated exchange.
However, matters took a turn for the worse when the landlord suddenly flung a punch at his adversary.
That was when the three onlookers, including the accused, sprung up, chasing after the landlord who sprinted away, meandering through the parked vehicles.
At one point, the accused grabbed a hoe while his friend, the former tenant, snatched a spirit level from the booth of his car.
CCTV footage subsequently showed both men setting upon the landlord and only breaking off the assault when the fathers of both landlord and tenant entered the scene.
The victim ended up suffering abrasions to his knees, back and legs, as well as serious cuts to his back, one of which was deep enough to result in a fractured vertebra.
During criminal proceedings against the wielder of the hoe, the court was faced with conflicting versions of the violence.
However, on the basis of all evidence put forward, including CCTV footage from the scene of the crime, the court could decipher the dynamics of the incident.
After noting that the attempted murder charge had been dropped by the prosecution, the court turned to the second charge of grievous bodily harm, rejecting the lawyers’ argument that the accused had acted in self-defence.
The events did not fit into the parameters of this legal plea since the victim’s behaviour had not presented “inevitable danger” and the accused “would not escape though [he] could”.
The victim’s back injury, resulting in the fractured backbone, was certainly grievous, the court said, adding that the nature of the injury was compatible to the weapon that was visibly in the accused’s hands.
However, the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused had used pepper spray in the incident, nor the extent of the damages caused to a car parked nearby.
On the basis of all evidence put forward, the court, presided over by magistrate Doreen Clarke, declared the accused guilty of grievous bodily harm, breach of peace, limited damage to third party property, as well as committing the offences while under a suspended sentence.
After taking note of his “rather worrying” criminal record, his long-standing drug problem and other serious health issues, the court placed the accused under a three-year probation order as “one last chance to tackle his drug problem in an effective and long-lasting manner,” further binding him under a personal obligation for one year against a penalty of €2,000.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.