Tarxien man charged over son's stabbing

A pensioner has been released on bail after he was arraigned in court, accused of having stabbed his son during an argument.

Egyptian-born Mahmoud El Tarawi, 65, from Tarxien was arraigned before magistrate Victor Axiak on Friday afternoon, accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on his 27-year-old son with a sharp and pointed instrument. 

The man was also charged with uttering insults and threats which exceeded the limits of provocation and attacking the victim.

El Tarawi pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Inspector Omar Zammit explained to the court how the police had received a report of a domestic disturbance at a house in Tarxien on Saturday afternoon. 

The defendant had opened the door to the police, he said, telling them that he had been involved in an argument with his son who was at the polyclinic at that time. El Tarawi had also handed over the knife allegedly used to inflict the wounds.

The police had subsequently spoken to the son while he was receiving treatment at a polyclinic, after which the father was arrested.

The court was told that while in custody, the defendant had been taken to hospital after complaining of chest pain. A warrant for his arrest was issued yesterday and he was re-arrested upon his discharge.

While being questioned, the man is understood to have told the police that during the argument, his son had been about to throw a chair at him and that he grabbed a knife to defend himself.

Lawyer Alfred Abela, defence counsel together with lawyer Andrew Grima, requested El Tarawi’s release on bail.

Inspector Zammit objected to the request, arguing that investigations were at too early a stage. The victim lived with the defendant, whose daughter was also a prosecution witness. He told the court that the daughter had been severely traumatised by the incident.

The inspector said that as El Tarawi had lived in Malta for the past 20 years there was no indication of him being a flight risk, but was objecting in view of the fact that the victim and the accused lived under the same roof.

Asked by Abela, Zammit confirmed that the defendant had been on police bail for around 24 hours. The defence argued that El Tarawi “had every opportunity” to call the witnesses today, while on police bail, but that this had not happened. Inspector Zammit confirmed this was true, in reply to a question from the magistrate.

The inspector argued the defendant had to be released on police bail before his arraignment, because the law gave the police 48 hours to arraign a suspect from the moment of arrest, and that this period didn't stop running if the suspect is admitted to hospital.

The lawyer told the court that the biggest risk was that of tampering with evidence, and so to mitigate this risk, his mother-in-law had offered to provide a property she owned in Paola for the defendant to reside in whilst on bail.

Abela pointed out that as they were close relatives of the defendant, the witnesses in question had a legal right not to testify against him, if they so wished. 

Magistrate Victor Axiaq upheld the defence’s request for El Tarawi’s release from arrest, granting him bail against a deposit of €400 and a personal guarantee of €5,100, also imposing a protection order in favour of the man’s son. The defendant was also ordered to sign a bail book twice a week.

“Mahmoud I am giving you the benefit of the doubt…Don’t attempt to speak to your son, not even if he approaches you himself,” warned the magistrate, informing the man that were he to do so he would not only be rearrested for breaching bail, but would have also breached the protection order, which is punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years together with a fine of up to €7000.