Kazakh knife attacker handed suspended sentence, fine

The 23-year-old Kazakh man who admitted to attacking six people with a knife yesterday has been handed a suspended sentence and a fine.

Aibek Manapov, who had been studying English in Malta since October, was arraigned under arrest before magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech yesterday, charged with slightly injuring a young woman when he attacked her and three others with a knife he had been carrying.

He was also charged with carrying the 20cm blade in public without the necessary permits and breaching the peace.

Inspector Jonathan Ransley had told the court that Manapov was so drunk at the time that he had failed a breathalyser test which had been administered hours after his arrest.

Manapov's defence lawyer, Joseph Mizzi, had entered a plea of guilty on behalf of the accused, who he said had apologised to the victims.

In the sentence delivered this morning, Magistrate Frendo Dimech handed the man a ten month prison sentence, which would be suspended for three years. He was also fined €116.

Manapov is understood to be leaving the island shortly.