Two teenage boys were granted bail on Tuesday after pleading guilty to causing grievous injury to another teenager during a fight at Hastings Gardens in Valletta.
A 16-year old student from Tarxien and a 17-year old from Żabbar were arrested on Monday and arraigned under arrest. Apart from causing grievous injury to another minor, the pair were also accused of insulting and threatening the victim and breaching public peace.
Police inspector Jeffrey Rizzo told the court that the police were informed about a fight at Hastings on March 7, where the victim reported he was beaten up at about 9.30pm.
The victim initially presented a medical certificate which showed that he sustained slight injuries. But the certificate was updated the next day to read “grievous”, as it emerged that he sustained fractures to his jaw.
The victim also provided mobile footage of the fight and screenshots taken from the social media profile of one of the accused featuring a photo of the alleged fight captioned “no mercy”.
Sources told Times of Malta that the victim had allegedly touched the thigh of another female minor, a claim which is disputed. The pair got involved and ended up fighting with the victim.
Prosecutor Valentina Cassar told the court that in view of the early guilty plea and the fact that they are minors, the prosecution was not objecting to the request for bail made by the defence.
Defence lawyer Franco Debono told the court that the youths do not have the means to pay a deposit.
The court upheld the requests and granted them bail pending sentencing against a personal guarantee of €5,000 each. They were also ordered to sign the bail book twice a week.
A protection order was issued in favour of the victim.
The court ordered a ban on the names of the accused given the fact that they are minors.
Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo presided over the court.
Lawyer Valentina Cassar prosecuted on behalf of the AG Office assisted by police inspector Jeffrey Rizzo.
One of the minors was assisted by lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, while the other minor was assisted by lawyer Amadeus Cachia.