News Book
Saturday July 31, 2021
A 21-year-old man was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to attacking a 27-year-old Somali national in Mġarr harbour and throwing him into the sea to the cheers of an onlooking crowd earlier this month.
The incident took place at around 1am on 18 July in Triq Martino Garces, and footage of the incident subsequently emerged on social media.
Though the attack allegedly saw a group of men target the 27-year-old, the footage helped the police track down the man who pushed him into the sea, Xewkija resident Deelian Mifsud, who was arraigned on Thursday afternoon before the Magistrates’ Court in Gozo.
Mifsud is accused of attempted grievous bodily harm, causing slight injuries to the victim, damaging his property and breaching the public peace, as well as relapsing.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and a request for bail was denied by Magistrate Simone Grech following the objections of prosecuting inspector Josef Gauci, who emphasised Mifsud’s criminal record and the fact that a number of civilians still had to testify.
The person who published the footage on social media had expressed their willingness to testify to help prosecute the perpetrators of the attack.
Defence counsel Jean Paul Grech denied that there was an element of racism behind the alleged attack.