A man was acquitted of seriously injuring a member of the armed forces by punching him in the face after it was established that the soldier had sexually harassed the accused.

Sinclair Mifsud had been charged with seriously injuring Joseph Cassar in Paceville on November 13, 2004, breaching the public peace and relapsing.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano heard that Mr Mifsud had been dancing in Red Square discotheque at about 6 a.m. when Mr Cassar, who appeared to be drunk, approached him and touched his private parts. Mr Mifsud pushed him away but after being sexually harassed three times he punched Mr Cassar in the face, fracturing his nose. Mr Cassar testified that he had been sexually abused when he was a boarder at the Salesian Home, in Sliema and insisted he never bothered Mr Mifsud at the nightclub.

Mr Cassar said he had to take 16 days sick leave and also had to undergo surgery to fix his broken nose after having been punched by Mr Mifsud. The court found that Mr Mifsud had been provoked and acquitted him of all charges.

Before handing down judgment, the court said it was convinced that Mr Cassar was under the influence of alcohol and that Mr Mifsud had at first acted moderately when rejecting Mr Cassar's advances. It was only after he was repeatedly harassed that Mr Mifsud reacted.

Mr Mifsud was, therefore, acquitted. Police Inspector Martin Sammut prosecuted.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Anġlu Farrugia were defence counsel.