A rooftop fight between neighbours over pets and eventually clothes washing lines escalated until one person was hurt with a knife, a court heard on Wednesday. 

Sylvana Zammit, 51, stands accused of having grievously injured one neighbour and slightly injuring another, in a tussle that took a violent turn. 

The incident happened on Tuesday on the rooftop of a Ħamrun residence and triggered a call to the police. 

Zammit and two of her neighbours, a man and a woman, had started arguing over pets. As the verbal row escalated, Zammit told the neighbours to remove washing lines of theirs that ran across her section of the roof.

Matters then turned violent when the accused allegedly grabbed a knife and tried to rip the lines, while the others tried to block her attempt.

In the ensuing tussle, one of the victims allegedly ended up suffering grievous injuries while the other one got off slightly harmed. 

The woman was arrested and escorted to court, pleading not guilty to grievous bodily harm, slight injuries as well as carrying a knife without a necessary police licence. 

A request for bail was objected to mainly in view of the fear that there could be some other future incident since the accused and her alleged victims were neighbours. 

However, the woman’s lawyers rebutted that their client could move out of her Hamrun residence to an alternative accommodation in a different location. 

“Do you still object?” the court asked the prosecutors,m who replied that they would nonetheless insist on a protection order in favour of the alleged victims. 

After hearing submissions the court granted bail on condition of signing the bail book once a week and under a personal guarantee of €10,000. 

No deposit nor curfew were imposed.

However the court, presided over by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, warned the woman that she was to obey each and every condition laid down under the protection order. 

That meant that she was to attend every court sitting, not travel abroad without court permission, nor commit any other voluntary offence. 

Moreover, she was not to communicate with the prosecution witnesses, including the alleged victims, in any way, not even via social media. 

“Nothing,” warned the magistrate, as the accused nodded in understanding, visibly moved as she approached her relatives who were present throughout the arraignment. 

Inspectors Ian Azzopardi and Ian Vella prosecuted. Lawyers Michael Sciriha, Franco Galea and Roberto Spiteri are defence counsel.