A British black belt was jailed for four years for punching and kicking two elderly men in what the court described as "an uncontrolled display of fighting".

Triston Scott Haynes, 41, was charged with grievously injuring David Shephard, 63, and Joseph Attard, 62, after a traffic accident on May 10, 2003 in Swieqi.

The incident happened when Mr Attard tried to overtake Mr Haynes's car. He had to try three times before succeeding but Mr Haynes almost immediately tried to overtake Mr Attard's car from the inner lane. He collided with it in the process and stopped right in front of the vehicle, blocking its path.

Mr Haynes got out of the car and started walking towards Mr Attard, who also alighted and started explaining that he had two disabled people with him in the car.

In the vehicle, in fact, there were Mr Shephard, who suffred from epilepsy, his wife Mary, her sister Pauline, who has Down's syndrome, and Mr Attard's wife.

However, Mr Haynes immediately hit Mr Attard in the eye. Mr Shephard then stepped out of the car to help his friend, who was sprawled on the bonnet and covered in blood.

In his testimony, Mr Shephard compared Mr Haynes's moves to those of Kung Fu actor Bruce Lee. "All of a sudden I saw him (Mr Haynes), like Bruce Lee, the movements of Bruce Lee's Kung Fu, hitting, boom, boom, boom, boom. My friend looked like a skinned rabbit."

Mr Haynes hit Mr Shephard several times, including two blows to the chest. He passed out and regained consciousness in hospital.

When asked in court whether he practised martial arts, Mr Haynes said he did not. But he admitted to taking part in martial arts, "in doing Karate, which is like a dance movement".

Later, however, he admitted being a black belt.

In handing down judgment, Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani said Mr Haynes's version of events, that he was attacked viciously by the two elderly men, was not credible, "highly improbable and simply does not bear up".

Mr Shephard's and Mr Attard's testimony were credible and dependable.

Not only did Mr Haynes "utterly fail" to prove he acted in self defence but "as a black belt practitioner of a martial arts discipline, he engaged two elderly men, one significantly smaller than him in stature, in an uncontrolled display of his art of fighting".

The court noted that he tried to hide the fact that he was a black belt and was only "cornered" into admitting it.

As a result, she found him guilty of grievously injuring the two men and jailed him for four years.