A father and son, both named Peter Borg, pleaded not guilty yesterday to attacking a local warden in Iklin last Thursday morning.

Both men, one aged 49 and the other 25 and both from Birkirkara, were accused of attacking local warden Carlo Monolito Sultana, attempting to seriously injure him and succeeded in injuring him slightly at a round 11am on 7 July in Iklin.

The father and son were also accused of damaging the warden’s uniform and equipment as well as a car, the property of Jason Caruana, and of breaching the peace. The elder man was additionally accused of threatening the warden with a digital pen, using obscene language in public and relapsing in view of previous convictions.

The men pleaded not guilty to all charges and their lawyer Dr Kenneth Grima made a request for bail. He claimed that the crimes were, after all, not that serious – “it was a fight that resulted in slight bodily harm,” he said. To which prosecuting inspector Victor Aquilina retorted that it was an assault on a public officer, adding that the warden had sustained an injured nose in the fight.

In his submission, the inspector also mentioned that Jason Caruana, who owns a shop close to where the incident occurred and saw what happened, still has to testify, as do other eye-witnesses to the alleged offences.

In view of this, presiding magistrate Lawrence Quintano granted the men bail on several conditions, including that they do not approach any of the prosecution’s witnesses. The Borgs were released against a Lm2,000 personal guarantee each. The son was also ordered to pay a Lm500 deposit.