Bolt Driver Charged With Stabbing Passenger In Valletta, Bail Denied
A cab driver has been arrested and charged with stabbing a passenger’s arm in Valletta last week.
The driver, 37-year-old Libyan national Mohamed Bashir Ibrahim Aljalli, was brought to court today and charged with grievously injuring Vinícius, a Brazilian national.
Vinícius told Lovin Malta that the cab driver stabbed him at the end of a trip from Paceville to Valletta in the early hours of the morning on 1st October.
He said the driver was driving extremely recklessly throughout and ignored his calls to slow down. At the end of the ride, Vinícius confronted the driver about his reckless driving and suggested he was using drugs.
He said the driver got out of the vehicle and punched him in the face before aiming a knife at him. Vinícius said the driver aimed the blade at his neck and he instinctively defended myself by raising his shoulders.
The blade struck his left arm and the driver drove off, leaving him bleeding in the street.
Aljalli is pleading not guilty and requested bail, with his lawyer Julia Micallef Stafrace stating he was willing to obey all bail conditions.
However, the prosecution opposed this request and magistrate Noel Bartolo rejected bail due to the severe nature of the offence and the fear of tampering with evidence.