Andorran Man on Trial for Nightclub Assault in 2019 Brawl, No Weapon Evidence

A 23-year-old Andorran man of Filipino origin faced trial at the Tribunal de Corts on Thursday for serious assault and intentional injuries stemming from a 2019 nightclub brawl in Andorra la Vella, where no evidence confirmed his use of a glass or other sharp object. Prosecutors requested a 12-month suspended sentence with educational aims, citing his minor status at the time, along with €186.13 in medical costs.

The incident unfolded in the early hours of 1 November 2019 at a crowded discoteca. The defendant, who attended with his father, and the 26-year-old victim both described an initial dance-floor altercation: the victim pushed through the crowd, prompting a verbal dispute and shoves that quickly subsided.

Tensions reignited on the terrace. The defendant testified he approached to question the earlier shove, at which point the victim challenged him to a one-on-one fight, pushed first, and landed punches. He admitted retaliating in self-defense, with both men falling amid broken glass on the ground, but denied wielding any object. Security personnel eventually intervened to separate them.

The victim recounted the defendant approaching aggressively and landing several face punches, the final one knocking him unconscious and causing a deep head laceration that required eight stitches. He suggested the wound's severity pointed to a cutting object like glass but could not confirm it. A friend who witnessed the terrace clash backed this account, describing the assault as sudden and the defendant as aggressive from the outset, though he saw no object in the defendant's hands.

Other witnesses depicted a broader melee involving multiple participants. The victim recalled being surrounded and falling, unable to identify who specifically caused his head injury, though he singled out the defendant as involved. Police arrived after reports of a fight possibly involving a glass but found the crowd dispersed; the victim had the laceration and no clear memory of events.

The forensic expert testified the injury aligned with an assault but could not pinpoint the exact cause. It might have resulted from a punch—particularly if aided by a ring—or a fall onto ground glass or a sharp item.

Prosecutors maintained the defendant initiated the violence, leading to the injuries possibly through punches that caused a fall onto debris, without requiring proof of a weapon. They emphasized the sentence's educational purpose. The defense upheld self-defense, questioned the victim's credibility, highlighted the group nature of the brawl, and argued glass fragments on the ground likely caused the wound, with no evidence linking the defendant to it.