Defendant found guilty of threats, causing slight bodily harm with an iron bar, and breach of public peace, but acquitted of pushing.
Court of Magistrates (Malta) as a Court of Criminal Judicature · Magistrate Dr. Nadia H. Vella B.A., LL.D., Dip. Trib. Eccl. Melit. · 04 May 2026
On 19 January 2025 at around 11:45am in Triq l-Iljun, Bormla, Larson Manoel Mizzi confronted Shandre Borg and his family outside his grandmother's home. Shandre had accompanied his girlfriend Maria Cuschieri Mizzi — the defendant's own sister — to collect personal belongings from their grandmother. The defendant emerged appearing aggressive, reversed his vehicle to block the victims from leaving, then produced an iron bar and swung it at Shandre Borg, striking him and causing injuries certified by Dr. Gabriel Gauci as slight in nature. The prosecution presented a medical certificate, police report, colour photographs of the injuries, and the sworn testimony of the victims Shandre Borg and Maruska Borg, as well as witnesses Kenneth Borg and Maria Cuschieri Mizzi. The defendant chose not to testify or present any evidence in his defence, leaving the prosecution's account uncontradicted. The defence attempted to undermine credibility by highlighting a minor inconsistency between Maruska Borg's initial police statement — in which the defendant allegedly said 'you will never see your son or the baby' — and her later courtroom testimony, where she recalled him saying only 'God forbid anything happens to grandmother.' The court accepted the initial statement as more reliable, noting that first accounts given closer in time to events carry higher probative value. It also found that even the softer phrasing, combined with the iron bar attack, carried an implicit threatening connotation. The court found Mizzi guilty on three of the five charges: making insults and threats (charge 1, absorbing charge 2), causing slight bodily harm (charge 3), and voluntarily disturbing public order (charge 4). He was acquitted on charge 5 of pushing, as the evidence did not sufficiently establish that act as distinct from the broader assault. The defence's provocation argument was rejected entirely, as no evidence of any prior provocation by the victims was established. A two-year suspended sentence of six months' imprisonment was imposed, together with a two-year restraining order protecting both Shandre Borg and Maruska Borg.
Larson Manoel Mizzi found guilty of charges 1, 3, and 4; acquitted of charge 5; charge 2 subsumed into charge 1. Sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years under Article 28A of Chapter 9. A restraining order issued for 2 years protecting Shandre Borg and Maruska Borg under Article 412C of Chapter 9. Defendant warned that breach of the restraining order carries a fine of up to €7,000 or up to 2 years imprisonment or both.
Criminal Code Chapter 9 — Articles 339(1)(e) (insults and threats), 221(1) (slight bodily harm), 338(dd) (breach of public peace/order), 412C (protection order), 28A (suspended sentence), 382A, 17(d), 230, 227, 235 (provocation)