Accused with assaulting police, claims to have been beaten

Sporting a black-eye, 27-year-old Vincent Spiteri of Bormla claimed to have been beaten by police officers, as he faces charges of assault and resisting arrest.

14 August 2012, 12:00am
by Karl Stagno-Navarra

1 min read

Rejecting any claims of police brutality, Police Inspector Priscilla Caruana told Magistrate Giovanni Grixti that contrary to claims by Vincent Spiteri, the accused had challenged the police to take off their uniforms and fight.

Spiteri said that he was stopped in Qajjenza, limits of Birzebbugia, on his way to visit his grandmother when he met some acquaintances. While speaking to these friends, an argument developed and he was beaten up.

When the police arrived, Spiteri allegedly continued to argue and a number of police officers were injured in the fracas.

Spiteri faced a total of 11 charges, including causing serious injury to a man.

He was granted bail against a personal guantee of €3,000.

More from Karl Stagno-Navarra

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We must be very careful in our democracies to monitor the use of force by our police. Of course it is a lot easier to talk about reforming our police than doing it. For the most part, police throughout the world are the same. And the same insights and direction for improving them hold true. Police should be well-trained, restrained in their use of force, honest, and courteous to all. To take a look at how to improve police, see “Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption and the Seven Steps Necessary to Improve Our Nation’s Police” (Amazon.com in US and EU). My blog is at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com where I discuss these and other current police improvement issues. Good luck and may we all experience not just good but great policing!