Police sergeant was knocked out cold in wedding brawl

A father and son were yesterday granted bail after the court heard how a police sergeant was knocked out cold, while others were slightly injured for trying to break up a fight that took place during a wedding reception.

Carmelo and Bernard Zammit, father and son respectively, from Tarxien, were charged with different offences for the role they each played in injuring the officers.

Bernard Zammit is accused of attacking officers, causing slight injury, voluntarily damaging state property and breaching the peace. His father was charged with violently resisting police officers and obstruction of justice.

The incident took place on 6 August 2017 at 1am during a wedding reception. The court heard how Bernard Zammit was having a rowdy argument with his brother. A sergeant on sight attempted to intervene and stop the pair, but this resulted in the younger Zammit knocking Sergeant Lambert Ferdinand unconscious. At this point, Police Constable Alan Dougall intervened but was assaulted by Zammit senior. Inspector Charlotte Curmi, prosecuting, told the court how the sergeant’s spectacles had been broken.

The pair pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them, while their lawyer, Simon Micallef Stafrace, put forward a request for bail. He remarked that there were no civilian witnesses to be heard, to which the police did not object.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, presiding over the case, commented that the police are there to protect the public and not get injured by rowdy people. Despite this, she granted them bail on the condition that they sign the bail book each week, they do not leave the country, deposit identification documents with the courts, do not approach any witnesses and deposit €500 each against a personal guarantee of €2,000 each.