Acquitted of poking man in the eye with broomstick 'through hole in the wall'

A man who ended up with a hole in his wall which his neighbour drilled through to his apartment ended up being charged with causing his neighbour serious injury when he pushed a broomstick through the hole. Lawrence Ciantar said that he drilled a hole at his apartment in Vittoriosa and accidentally drilled through to Michael Patrick O’Meara’s apartment. He said that, on looking into the hole, the latter pushed a broomstick through, poking him in the eye. But Mr O’Meara argued that when he saw the hole, he pushed a plastic handle he had found on his property some days before and which he assumed belonged to his neighbour through it. The incident happened in July 2009. Mr Ciantar said that when he realised that he had drilled a hole through to his neighbour’s apartment, he peered through it and said hello when he saw the accused walking past. When he looked again he saw a broomstick going through the hole and he was hit in the eye. Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said she found the accused to be more credible and acquitted him of causing serious injury.