A man who drunkenly stabbed a friend of his on the Gżira seafront in January 2021 has been placed on probation for three years after a court found him guilty of the crime.

James Manfrè, 28, attacked Luca Emanuel Corito with a large knife he fetched from his car late at night on January 10 of that year. 

He faced charges of causing grievous injuries using a sharp instrument, breaching the peace and violating bail conditions in a separate case. He faced up to seven years in jail. 

An eyewitness testified that Manfrè had parked in front of Black Gold bar and immediately caused a commotion that January night, scuffling with his girlfriend and then pestering customers in the bar. 

“He was annoying people, getting up and sitting down from one table to another, crying and dancing in between,” Carmel Pace testified. 

Manfrè was eventually coaxed to exit the bar, but became aggressive once outside. Both Pace and Corito testified that they saw him fetch a knife from his car and head towards a man who had been trying to reason with him. 

Corito, who said he knew Manfrè and considered him “ a friend”, testified that Manfrè had first slashed at him and cut his finger, and then lunged at him twice more with the knife. Corito said he had raised his arm to protect himself from those attacks. 

He then called a friend, who picked him up and took him to the Floriana health centre for treatment. 

A doctor testified that Corito’s injuries were of a grievous nature. Corito, he said, had suffered a “deep laceration 5cm in length along the left upper forearm, a deep laceration 6cm in length along the left upper arm and a 3cm superficial laceration on the right fourth finger” 

Police testified that they had arrested Manfrè at his home in Msida after speaking to Corito at the health centre. 

In August 2022, Corito testified for a second time and told the court that he and Manfre had made up, were now friends again and that he had no interest in pursuing the case. 

The court, presided by magistrate Gabriella Vella, took into consideration Corito’s change of heart, testimony by Caritas experts who said the accused had long-standing addiction and emotional psychology issues, and a report by a probation officer who advised the court to order Manfrè to reestablish contact with Caritas and receive psychiatric care. 

Manfrè was sentenced to three years of probation and told he will lose €1,000 of the €3,000 deposit he had paid as part of bail conditions in a separate case. Manfrè must now pay an additional €1,000 to remain out on bail, the court told him. The accused was also placed under a five-year treatment order. 

Magistrate Gabriella Vella presided. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.