A woman who rang up a magistrate hearing a case against her relative received a very public telling-off in court on Monday morning.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia noted that he had received a call from a relative of Leonvic Fenech, who stands accused of assaulting a neighbour who asked for a car blocking his garage to be moved.

Farrugia said the relative used to be a client of his when he was a lawyer, before he became a magistrate, and that he hung up as soon as he realised who he was speaking to.

He rebuked the woman, who was seated in the courtroom, in strong terms and told her that while he was letting her off with a warning, he would not be so lenient if it were to happen again.

The woman appeared contrite and apologised to the court.

Lawyers representing the prosecution, defence and parte civile all placed it on the court record that they have full faith in the magistrate and want him to continue hearing the case.

Fenech, a 23-year-old tow truck driver from Santa Venera, faces charges of grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving in relation to the October 7, 7am incident.

On Monday, the courtroom heard from Fenech’s alleged victim, who testified that he had rung Fenech’s doorbell after finding a car parked in front of his garage.

This was a regular occurrence and it did not overly bother him, he said.

He said that Fenech had opened the door and told him that he did not know who owned the car blocking his garage. The victim however insisted that it belonged to someone living in Fenech’s home.

Fenech is then alleged to have shoved the victim, told him to “leave me alone so I can sleep” and then attacked him with an iron bar used to lever a hydraulic jack. 

He was hit on his right leg, causing him grievous injuries.

The commotion prompted a small crowd to gather, the victim said, and Fenech had then hopped into his tow truck and driven off, only to return and attempt to run him over.

The victim said he had jumped into a recessed doorway to avoid being hit by the truck.

Some time later, police arrived and Fenech was placed under arrest.

The victim told the court that he believed the car blocking his garage belonged to a relative of Fenech’s who was present in the courtroom.

Upon hearing this, the magistrate asked the witness to identify the man.

He then summoned the car owner to the bench and gave him a dressing down and said parking in front of a person’s garage and then being reluctant to move the car was behaviour more fitting for the “Stone Age”.

At the end of his testimony, the victim told the court that he did not want his neighbour to be unduly punished and just wanted to go back to having a good relationship with Fenech.

Fenech requested bail and the court agreed to that request, subject to him posting a €1,000 deposit and a €2,000 personal guarantee, and signing a bail book on a weekly basis.

Inspector Sarah Kathleen Zerafa prosecuted, assisted by prosecutor Rebekah Spiteri.

Lawyers Ishmael Psaila and Roberto Spiteri are defence counsel. Lawyer Franco Debono is appearing parte civile.