Updated| Teen fined €60 for Valletta assault uploaded on Facebook after victim withdraws complaint

The teenage girl, whose assault by a 16-year-old youth became the subject of public outcry when a video of the attack went viral on Facebook, had dropped the charges by the time her assailant appeared in court.

The young man was arraigned in court during the early hours of Wednesday morning, a few hours after Valletta police started investigating the incident that had come to light after a video of the assault was posted online.

In the video, the youth is seen assaulting a young woman in front of the parliament building in Republic Street, Valletta.

The accused, a 16-year-old Balzan resident, was identified by police within the hour and arrested. He was arraigned before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera during the night and charged with assaulting the girl, threatening her, breaching the peace and uttering obscenities in public. He was also charged with littering.

But the court had no choice but not to proceed with the assault charge after it was informed that the girl had chosen to withdraw her complaint. The magistrate was, likewise, unable to punish the accused for uttering obscenities in public after the prosecution withdrew this charge.

The youth, whose name is also subject to a ban on publication, pleaded guilty to threatening the girl, breaching the peace and littering.

With regards to punishment, Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that all three of the charges dealt with contraventions, punishable by a maximum fine of €58.23 each. The fact that the offender is a minor and in view of the withdrawal of some charges made the imposition of the maximum fine difficult to justify. In the sentence, which has been seen by this newspaper, the magistrate ruled that, in her view, a punishment tending towards the minimum ought to be given.

The youth was fined €20 for each of the three contraventions he admitted to, bringing the total fine to €60.

Inspector Daryl Borg prosectuted.

In a statement released following the incident, the police urged the public to pass on any material that can be considered evidence in a crime to their local police station. Anonymity is guaranteed in such instances, police said.