Man acquitted of injuring car park security attendant, court rules he acted in self-defence

A man has been acquitted of grievously injuring a car park security attendant who had grabbed him by the throat, with the court ruling that he had acted in legitimate self-defence.

54-year-old Robert Caruana had been charged in 2012 with grievously injuring Joseph Bonello, at the time a security guard at the MEPA appeals building, having broken his nose with a blow after a confrontation.

Both Caruana and Bonello had testified that the accused had wanted to park in the MEPA Appeals building car park and that Bonello had ordered the accused to move to another space three times, after which Caruana chased him.

The accused had testified that he had followed the security attendant and called him "ignorant" which had led to an argument. At one point, he said, the attendant had grabbed him by the arm and the neck and he had reacted by hitting his aggressor in the face with his free hand. The pair fell to the ground and the fight ended there.

The injured party, Bonello, told the court that he had been punched in the face and suffered a 5% disability after his nose was broken.

After the incident, the accused, who had also suffered slight injuries in the altercation, had gone to the police to give his version of events.

The court held that the version of the accused was factual and consistent and corroborated by the victim, even if there were parts where he was uncomfortable in testifying about.

The incident was a perfect fit for the elements of legitimate self-defence, ruled the court saying the aggression suffered by Caruana was "unjust, grave and unavoidable" – the criteria for self-defence. "Although…the accused caused injury to the parte civile…he did this because he was being physically threatened by the parte civile's actions, who had been grabbing his throat and hand and therefore the only plausible action was to thrust his other hand towards the face of the parte civile to stop him." Had the accused continued to beat Bonello after he had fallen to the ground, this legal defence would not have been successful, observed the court.

Caruana was cleared of all charges.

Lawyer Kathleen Grima was defence counsel.

from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2t0qfy1
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