Three construction workers were denied bail on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to assaulting a man on Saturday night.
The incident allegedly took place when Ansar Kothezhath Nikarth Kunjali, 40; Sony Raphel, 43; and Sistus Puthenthara Sebastian, 44; all Indians working for a Maltese construction company, were drinking and making quite a commotion inside an apartment.
The alleged victim, a fellow Indian who was staying at the flat, asked them to stop the drunken racket.
But he was ignored.
The man allegedly walked out of the apartment to a nearby public garden, followed by the trio who turned upon him.
The assault allegedly took place between 9pm and 2am on Sunday and continued when the victim returned to the flat.
One of the aggressors was armed with a knife, prosecuting Inspector Sherona Buhagiar told the court.
All three pleaded not guilty to assaulting and grievously injuring the victim.
Raphel was separately charged with slightly injuring the victim with a sharp and pointed instrument.
A request for bail was objected to primarily in view of the fear of absconding.
The accused lived within a community where fellow nationals communicated among themselves and informed each other about what was going on, argued Inspector Buhagiar.
In fact, one of the men was arrested on Monday but police were unable to track down the other two suspects who were not found at their address and whose mobiles were switched off.
Moreover, the victim lived with one of the co-accused and all four were friends.
The men’s lawyer countered that the accused had spent thousands to get a visa to work in Malta and they badly needed their job to send money to their families abroad.
Denying them bail would risk their job and that was their greatest fear.
These men were “Catholic Christians”, went on the lawyer.
They certainly had no intention of absconding.
However, the prosecution pointed out that the men were currently on summer shutdown and besides, one of them worked with the alleged victim.
After hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Astrid May Grima, turned down the request and remanded the accused in custody.