Magistrate Joseph Mifsud today gave a stern warning to people who assault police officers, saying that no one will be excused, whatever the reason, for threatening or assaulting them.
Magistrate Mifsud was handing down a sentence to a 46-year-old man, Martin Carbonaro, who was found guilty of assaulting eight police officers, injuring another two men, not obeying police orders, breaching public order, being drunk in public, passing indecent remarks and relapsing. Investigations showed that prior to the incident, Mr Carbonaro had drunk over 18 bottles of beers.
In his judgment, the magistrate said that respect must be shown to police officers always and everywhere, and orders should be obeyed. The respect needs to be clearly exhibited, even in situations where tension rises.
“The court can’t deal with such cases as if they were nothing, as if police officers are there to be challenged, threatened and offended. Being under the influence of alcohol does not excuse such behaviour. Such cases are constantly on the increase and it is the court’s responsibility to protect officials, given these are acting within their powers,” he said.
The magistrate said that in such cases, the court should order effective imprisonment, even more so, when the accused had previous brushes with the law or has committed a crime during a suspended sentence.
“The court does not want police to be demoralised by such cases simply because they are not receiving the adequate support,” the judgment states.
The magistrate even noted one of the speeches by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, in which he lauded the police force for its work like ‘sheep among the wolves’.
In its considerations of this particular case, the court noted the nature of the crime as well as the accused’s early admission. Mr Carbonaro even offered to pay €880 in medical treatment for the officials.
It also noted that the accused accepted help for his drinking problem, adding that such an addiction can lead to violent and aggressive behaviour.
It handed down a three-month sentence to Mr Carbanaro and an additional nine months which were suspended. It also fined him €800.