Security officer charged with knife assault days after being placed on probation

A man has been remanded in custody just 12 days after being placed on probation, after he injured a man with a knife in a heated argument over money.

Security officer Glenn Abela, 30, from Dingli, was arraigned before magistrate Ian Farrugia this afternoon charged with having used a knife to attack a man in Marsa yesterday morning and causing him slight injury. 

He was also charged with carrying a knife in public without a licence or permit, carrying a weapon during the commission of a crime against the person, committing damage of over €250 voluntarily, uttering insults or threats, breaching the peace and causing his victim to fear that violence would be used against him.

Abela was also accused of breaching a three-year probation order which he had been handed to him on 10 November for injuring and insulting a Transport Malta official and undressing in public.

In the latest incident, Abela was involved in an argument with another man over a sum of money, with Abela striking his opponent with a dagger before using the weapon on the man’s van, causing damage to it.
The court heard how the victim had then tried to escape, only managing to crash his van into the aggressor’s BMW, however.

Defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran requested bail, but this was turned down by the court due to the fear of tampering with evidence since the alleged victim was yet to give his testimony.

Inspector Stacy Attard prosecuted.