Croatian football hooligans admit to Paceville rampage

A group of men from Croatia have been charged in connection with an ethnically-motivated brawl which laid waste to parts of Paceville early this morning.

The accused - Ivan Janjetic, Igor Valec  and Dalen Cekada who are unemployed, factory worker Denis Danilovic, Restaurant owner Marijo Hodak and co-owner Davor Andelkovic - all in their twenties and thirties, were arraigned before Magistrate Josette Demicoli this afternoon.

Inspector Trevor Micallef charged the six with four counts of wilful damage, incitement of an assembly of persons, breaching the peace, throwing hard objects and insulting a person. The total cost of the damages caused by the men amounted to €5870, said the inspector.

It is understood that the fight broke out at 1:20am yesterday morning, when the group attacked a man from Serbia on Santa Rita steps in Paceville.

More of their countrymen joined in, and in no time approximately 30 Croatians were throwing objects at the handful of Serbs. The violence spread across several streets in Paceville, trailing destruction in its wake.

The court was told the fighting had laid waste to the al fresco setups of several entertainment establishments, with the hooligans hurling tables, chairs, bottles and glasses at their adversaries. Remarkably, however, nobody was injured in the violence.

Inspector Trevor Micallef, prosecuting, said that police saw around 20-30 Croatians throwing objects and managed to arrest six who were then identified by security guards, the victims or owners of establishments.

Lawyer Joseph Ellis asked how the men had been arrested. The men were pointed out during the violence by the establishment owners. One or two were traced to hotels in St. George’s park and identified by the police and others were identified from CCTV footage, added the inspector.

The court asked the men whether they had means to afford a lawyer. They replied that they did not know how much it would cost but would like to have a lawyer. Lawyer Joseph Ellis, designated Legal aid lawyer for the day, however adamantly insisted that he would not appear as legal aid for the hooligans, describing the fact that the men were allocated a legal aid lawyer without following the procedure established in the law as an abuse of the system. “If they can afford to come here and pay to watch a football match, they can afford to pay for legal representation,” said the lawyer.

After postponing the case for half an hour, the men returned after consulting with the same lawyer, and paying for his services.

The men had told police that they had been attacked by a group of Serbs, but on their lawyer’s advice, the men pleaded guilty to the charges. The court will deliver its sentence tomorrow afternoon, until which time, the men are to be remanded in custody.