The Birzebbuga local council offices were the scene of an attack on councillor Anthony Roberts yesterday on an otherwise
business-as-usual Friday.
The 77-year-old Mr Roberts, being the only councillor in the office at the time, suffered the brunt of the violence when he was physically assaulted, punched, and had a table overturned on top of him. Speaking to The Malta Independent yesterday, Mr Roberts, who was lucky to have escaped the incident relatively unscathed, thanks to the bravery of a female clerk, related the series of events.
“A person came into the local council office, a public place, swearing, waving a paper and shouting ‘you are taking my livelihood away’ and ‘I’ll be seeing you all’. He was extremely violent and had rage radiating from him,” said Mr Roberts.
At the time the office had been manned only by Mr Roberts and two female clerks. The attacker immediately went for Mr Roberts and tried to punch him. But when he realised that he could not reach over the table, the man overturned the table on to Mr Roberts, scattering papers everywhere, and then proceeded to punch him. One of the clerks, Simone Fenech, intervened and jumped between the assailant and Mr Roberts.
“He was extremely dangerous and behaving like a barbarian,” Mr Roberts added. “It all happened in seconds. He just stormed in, young and as strong as a bull, and attacked.”
Mr Roberts also commended Ms Fenech’s quick thinking and courage in the dangerous situation, adding that intervening as she did, “she probably saved me”. The individual left the premises shouting and swearing all the way out.
“This is one of the harshest cases ever experienced by a local council, and I am the oldest councillor – at least in the south of Malta, if not in the whole country,” said Mr Roberts. “Of course, sometimes we have shouting at the council, but nothing like this.”
The reason behind the attack: an application for a pavement. The attacker had applied for a pavement permit, which had first been turned down by Mepa and subsequently approved on appeal. The council, however, has continued to oppose the pavement as it felt it protruded excessively. A police report was filed as soon as the shock of the attack had subsided.
The incident was condemned by the Local Councils Association and the Local Council Executive Secretaries Association. The assailant is expected to be arraigned in court shortly.