Police taking action against nightclub bouncers

The St Julians police will be taking court action against the Havana bouncers who, on Wednesday night, beat up two brothers outside the Paceville nightclub, police sources said.

The victims had identified the assailants in the presence of the police on the night of the incident after they obtained a doctor's certificate from the polyclinic and filed a police report.

One of the Havana bouncers has in the meantime been suspended for two weeks, pending further investigations into the matter by nightclub owner Hugo Chetcuti.

"I am not saying the bouncers were not wrong" but security always gets the short end of the stick in these cases, he said. "They are often the subject of constant and heavy abuse and I almost feel sorry for them as they are always to blame, even if they are just doing their job."

"The idea is that when they have removed a patron from the premises, they should just let it go. Pursuing a fight outside cannot be condoned," Mr Chetcuti continued. "However, it is often the case that after separating a brawl, the bouncers end up being the target."

Other Paceville club owners complained that, sometimes, the police took a long time to arrive on the scene.

There was no doubt that "some bouncers are inclined to be strong with the weak and weak with the strong", police sources said. Such incidents, they continued, were a common occurrence.

Not all bouncers acted irrationally but some nightspots were particularly renowned for such incidents, they said.

On the night of the incident involving the brothers, another man, 31-year-old Joseph Pisani, shared the same fate at the hands of the same bodyguards and ended up at the polyclinic just before the brothers.

Mr Pisani said he suffered a broken back tooth, a cut lip and two black eyes when he experienced a "double kick in the mouth". He too intends to take court action.