A Floriana man has been placed on probation for two years after he was found guilty of stabbing another motorist following a traffic accident that boiled over in March 2020.

Leandro Mansueto, 21, of Floriana, was convicted of injuring Glenn Cassar, 25, of Valletta when he slashed his thigh with a penknife he extracted to defend himself from an assault.

The court heard how the incident happened in the early afternoon in Triq il-Mediterran, Valletta. Cassar was driving with his brother along that stretch of road and crashed into two parked vehicles after swerving to avoid a collision with a car driven by Mansueto.

The two started arguing, and Cassar was allegedly stabbed in the leg by Mansueto, who fled the site by the time police intervened. He was subsequently tracked down and arrested at home.

In court, Mansueto said he had left the scene because Cassar and his brother were shouting, scaring his children who were in the car at the time. He took the children home, picked up his brother and returned to the scene to “settle the issue”.

Mansueto said he was scared of the Cassars and argued that what he had done was in self-defence.

However, Magistrate Leonard Caruana rubbished this argument since Mansueto had gone home and knew what to expect when he decided to return to settle things.  

Mansueto told the court he brought out his penknife to scare his aggressors and did not know how he hit Cassar with the knife, which he then dumped into the sea near the Excelsior Hotel.

Mansueto was found guilty of slightly injuring Cassar after a court-appointed expert classified the injury as a slash wound rather than a stab wound since the cut was not deep and no blood vessels perforated.

Mansueto was also found guilty of carrying a weapon while committing a crime and possessing a knife without the necessary police licence.

Magistrate Caruana placed him on probation for two years and fined him €116 for carrying an unlicensed weapon. He also issued a protection order in favour of Glenn Cassar and his brother Maverick and ordered Mansueto to pay €288 in court expenses.

Police Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.