Malta
Stabbed teen first spoke out about bullies after father caught her stealing
The girl said she stole from her family to pay off her bullies. This is a file photo. Photo: Shutterstock
A 15-year-old schoolgirl who says she was stabbed by a gang first spoke about that after her father caught her stealing money from him, a court heard this week.
The child, who is in form 5, claims that she spent weeks paying money to a 13-year-old schoolmate and her friends, doing so after being threatened with a knife one day at school.
She first made those claims after her school principal and father confronted her with evidence that she was stealing money from home. Her father had installed a hidden camera in their family kitchen, caught her red-handed and spoken to school about the discovery.
At that point, the 15-year-old told them she was stealing money to pay off a gang of bullies.
The case reached the law courts after the child reported being stabbed by a six-person masked gang. Police have pressed charges against Jake Dalli Balzan, 21, in connection with
Dalli Balzan is alleged to have been dating the 13-year-old involved and the victim told police she recognised him as one of the assailants through his voice and tattoos.
He is pleading not guilty to charges.
In almost four hours of testimony via videoconference this week, the girl said Dalli Balzan had texted her to apologise while she was in hospital following the stabbing.
But she said she deleted that message because she was “scared that he had admitted” [to a crime] .
She said her problems began just three days into the start of this year’s school year, when a Form 3 student she only knew by sight offered a “line [of cocaine] .”
“I did not accept because I don’t do such things,” the witness recalled in testimony by videoconference this week. “I’m a good girl.”
The next day, the younger girl allegedly called her in the school toilets, drew out a black flick knife, pressed it against her stomach and demanded €110, saying, “as from tomorrow you must bring me money.”
She returned home in a panic, not knowing where to get the money from. She decided to take the cash from her 18-year-old brother’s savings. He was putting money aside to buy a car.
The gang kept asking for more and more money, she testified, saying she fulfilled their demands by stealing from her father and brother.
The girl said she missed school for a while, but that her bully continued to pursue her, this time through a fake Instagram profile.
She said the 13-year-old her and her boyfriend, Dalli Balzan, showed up near her family home in Mqabba at some point in October to demand money. She gave them between €40 to €50.
On November 2, they came a second time and she handed them €80.
A third visit allegedly took place on November 15. That time a third person, later identified as the 19-year-old who held a gun to her head in the alleged attack on November 23, accompanied the bully and her boyfriend.
“I gave them €90,” said the witness. She had received a message threatening that she would “end up very badly” unless she gave the money.
She told the court that she also paid money on November 16 and 17, doing so to her bully at school.
The witness initially testified that she was “absolutely certain” about the dates she was providing.
“What if I tell you that November 16 and 17 were a Saturday and Sunday?”asked defence lawyer David Bonello.
“I’m not 100%…but somewhere around those dates,” the witness replied.
She confirmed she received pocket money from her father. When asked by Bonello why she didn’t use that money to pay off her bullies, the girl said there were “many other demands for money” which she had not testified about because she was not sure of the dates.
Defence lawyer Joseph Borda told the court that he believed the girl herself had created the fake Instagram profile used to demand money of her.
“Who me? No,” replied the girl.
“If you don’t get [the money] I’ll kill you and cut you up in pieces”
A last message on that fake profile demanded €400.
On November 23, she went outside her home to tell her bullies that she could not cough up that amount.
She headed to an alley just off her street, the usual meeting place.
There she saw a male figure, all dressed in black, wearing a black balaclava.
“I recognized him as the one who came with Jake and [the bully] .”
He demanded the €400 and when she told him she did not have that much, he pulled a small gun from his trousers pocket and placed it against her head.
She said the male with the gun dropped “three gold bullets” from his pocket when he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket.
“I’m going to give you a chance [to pay] until next week. If you don’t get them [€400] I’ll kill you and cut you up in pieces,” she said the assailant told her.
As she walked out of the alley, she saw five masked persons waiting for her.
“Hey shit!” came the usual greeting. “Then they pounced on me.”
There were three females, including the 13-year-old, and two males, one of whom she identified as Dalli Balzan. The other male “had an Arab accent,” she told the court.
Under cross-examination, she said that she could see Dalli Balzan’s facial piercings through his balaclava. She also spotted his tattoo and recognized his voice as he called out, “come on beat her.”
But the witness was unable to describe that tattoo or say whether on whether it was on his right or left hand.
“It was all a whitish haze. I hardly knew where I was going,” recalled the witness.
She said her aggressors fled when they spotted an elderly man in the road. The victim walked towards that man and asked for help.
He got into his red car and left. “He didn’t help me,” testified the girl.
A passerby who happened to be the mother of a friend, gave her first assistance and called the police.
A message from the accused
On Sunday morning, the girl said that she received a message from Dalli Balzan while in hospital saying, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She deleted that message because she was scared of showing that he had “admitted.”
“So why did you immediately mention his name to the police that same morning in hospital?”asked the defence, pointing out that the girl’s statements were rather contradictory.
And why did she not tell her parents about the last demand for €400? Or go to the police?
“I was scared,” came the reply.
After the long session the court, presided over by Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi, decreed that there were sufficient prima facie reasons for the accused to stand trial on indictment.
The case continues.
Inspector Wayne Bonello prosecuted.
Lawyers David Bonello and Joseph Borda are defence counsel.
Lawyer Jason Azzopardi appeared parte civile.
The girl said she stole from her family to pay off her bullies. This is a file photo. Photo: Shutterstock
A 15-year-old schoolgirl who says she was stabbed by a gang first spoke about that after her father caught her stealing money from him, a court heard this week.
The child, who is in form 5, claims that she spent weeks paying money to a 13-year-old schoolmate and her friends, doing so after being threatened with a knife one day at school.
She first made those claims after her school principal and father confronted her with evidence that she was stealing money from home. Her father had installed a hidden camera in their family kitchen, caught her red-handed and spoken to school about the discovery.
At that point, the 15-year-old told them she was stealing money to pay off a gang of bullies.
The case reached the law courts after the child reported being stabbed by a six-person masked gang. Police have pressed charges against Jake Dalli Balzan, 21, in connection with
Dalli Balzan is alleged to have been dating the 13-year-old involved and the victim told police she recognised him as one of the assailants through his voice and tattoos.
He is pleading not guilty to charges.
In almost four hours of testimony via videoconference this week, the girl said Dalli Balzan had texted her to apologise while she was in hospital following the stabbing.
But she said she deleted that message because she was “scared that he had admitted” [to a crime] .
She said her problems began just three days into the start of this year’s school year, when a Form 3 student she only knew by sight offered a “line [of cocaine] .”
“I did not accept because I don’t do such things,” the witness recalled in testimony by videoconference this week. “I’m a good girl.”
The next day, the younger girl allegedly called her in the school toilets, drew out a black flick knife, pressed it against her stomach and demanded €110, saying, “as from tomorrow you must bring me money.”
She returned home in a panic, not knowing where to get the money from. She decided to take the cash from her 18-year-old brother’s savings. He was putting money aside to buy a car.
The gang kept asking for more and more money, she testified, saying she fulfilled their demands by stealing from her father and brother.
The girl said she missed school for a while, but that her bully continued to pursue her, this time through a fake Instagram profile.
She said the 13-year-old her and her boyfriend, Dalli Balzan, showed up near her family home in Mqabba at some point in October to demand money. She gave them between €40 to €50.
On November 2, they came a second time and she handed them €80.
A third visit allegedly took place on November 15. That time a third person, later identified as the 19-year-old who held a gun to her head in the alleged attack on November 23, accompanied the bully and her boyfriend.
“I gave them €90,” said the witness. She had received a message threatening that she would “end up very badly” unless she gave the money.
She told the court that she also paid money on November 16 and 17, doing so to her bully at school.
The witness initially testified that she was “absolutely certain” about the dates she was providing.
“What if I tell you that November 16 and 17 were a Saturday and Sunday?”asked defence lawyer David Bonello.
“I’m not 100%…but somewhere around those dates,” the witness replied.
She confirmed she received pocket money from her father. When asked by Bonello why she didn’t use that money to pay off her bullies, the girl said there were “many other demands for money” which she had not testified about because she was not sure of the dates.
Defence lawyer Joseph Borda told the court that he believed the girl herself had created the fake Instagram profile used to demand money of her.
“Who me? No,” replied the girl.
“If you don’t get [the money] I’ll kill you and cut you up in pieces”
A last message on that fake profile demanded €400.
On November 23, she went outside her home to tell her bullies that she could not cough up that amount.
She headed to an alley just off her street, the usual meeting place.
There she saw a male figure, all dressed in black, wearing a black balaclava.
“I recognized him as the one who came with Jake and [the bully] .”
He demanded the €400 and when she told him she did not have that much, he pulled a small gun from his trousers pocket and placed it against her head.
She said the male with the gun dropped “three gold bullets” from his pocket when he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket.
“I’m going to give you a chance [to pay] until next week. If you don’t get them [€400] I’ll kill you and cut you up in pieces,” she said the assailant told her.
As she walked out of the alley, she saw five masked persons waiting for her.
“Hey shit!” came the usual greeting. “Then they pounced on me.”
There were three females, including the 13-year-old, and two males, one of whom she identified as Dalli Balzan. The other male “had an Arab accent,” she told the court.
Under cross-examination, she said that she could see Dalli Balzan’s facial piercings through his balaclava. She also spotted his tattoo and recognized his voice as he called out, “come on beat her.”
But the witness was unable to describe that tattoo or say whether on whether it was on his right or left hand.
“It was all a whitish haze. I hardly knew where I was going,” recalled the witness.
She said her aggressors fled when they spotted an elderly man in the road. The victim walked towards that man and asked for help.
He got into his red car and left. “He didn’t help me,” testified the girl.
A passerby who happened to be the mother of a friend, gave her first assistance and called the police.
A message from the accused
On Sunday morning, the girl said that she received a message from Dalli Balzan while in hospital saying, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She deleted that message because she was scared of showing that he had “admitted.”
“So why did you immediately mention his name to the police that same morning in hospital?”asked the defence, pointing out that the girl’s statements were rather contradictory.
And why did she not tell her parents about the last demand for €400? Or go to the police?
“I was scared,” came the reply.
After the long session the court, presided over by Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi, decreed that there were sufficient prima facie reasons for the accused to stand trial on indictment.
The case continues.
Inspector Wayne Bonello prosecuted.
Lawyers David Bonello and Joseph Borda are defence counsel.
Lawyer Jason Azzopardi appeared parte civile.