Three men ended up in court on Thursday pleading not guilty to their involvement in a violent street fight at Ħamrun on Tuesday night, in which a fourth man was grievously injured and robbed of his mobile phones. 

Marwan Alshamari, 27, and Alhasan Taha, 23, both Syrian-born, living at Ħamrun and Santa Venera respectively, were arraigned first, jointly charged with aggravated theft and holding their alleged victim against his will during the violent incident that broke out at 11pm in Triq Ġużè Pace.

Alshamari was separately charged with grievously injuring the victim without intending to kill or place his life in manifest danger. 

Both men pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody after being denied bail. 

The third man, Mahmoud Alaiwi, a 20-year-old Syrian national, was arraigned next, pleading not guilty to slightly injuring one of the other co-accused, Alshamari, in the scuffle. 

He was also charged with unlicensed possession of a pointed weapon. 

Prosecuting Inspectors Stephen Gulia, Lydon Zammit and Stacy Attard told the court about how police were alerted to the fight on Tuesday. 

Two men had allegedly beaten a co-national and stole his two mobiles. 

During the scuffle, one of the suspect aggressors had also suffered slight, knife-inflicted injuries. 

Alaiwi’s lawyer, Jason Grima, requested bail.

The prosecution objected, pointing out the gravity of the charges, the fact that a knife had been used in the incident and the “real” risk of tampering with evidence. 

There were various civilian witnesses still to testify and the accused “knows them well,” argued Inspector Gulia. 

Moreover, the man had no ties in Malta, the court was told. 

But the accused’s lawyer rebutted that his client had stepped into the fight to defend his cousin who was being badly beaten by the other two accused. 

The knife was not his and he had even injured himself while trying to wrestle the weapon out of the aggressors’ grip, the lawyer went on, as the accused followed the proceedings, his right thumb covered with a plaster. 

Had the accused not intervened, the victim would have likely suffered more serious injuries, Grima argued. 

“This is a case of legitimate defence, even if not self-defence, and to deny bail would be an injustice,” the lawyer said, pointing out that evidence was preserved in the records of the magisterial inquiry into the incident. 

After hearing submissions by both parties and after being informed that the accused could take up residence with a relative if granted bail, the court, presided over by magistrate Charmaine Galea, upheld the request, strictly warning the accused not to lay foot in Ħamrun. 

“You mustn’t walk through there,” the magistrate stressed, clarifying that since Ħamrun was centrally-located, the court would not bar the accused from simply driving through that town.

He was also ordered to sign the bail book three times weekly, deposit €500, bind himself under a €5,000 personal guarantee and abide by a curfew between 10pm and 6am. 

Lawyer Noel Bianco assisted the other two co-accused.