Three police officers were yesterday acquitted of beating a man with the magistrate noting that both their evidence and that of the alleged victim were credible.

Given that the evidence produced in court by the two parties was conflicting and there was no other supporting evidence, Magistrate Silvio Meli said he had to free the accused.

The allegations of police beating were made last year after Trevor Ciangura was arrested on the night of March 30 for, as the police put it, violently resisting arrest. He claimed he had been released that same night after being beaten by the three officers to the point of almost losing consciousness.

He was not arraigned in connection with the allegations that he had resisted arrest.

Police Constables Oliver Micallef, 23, of Għarb and Robert Mario Spiteri, 28, of Attard, were acquitted of slightly injuring Mr Ciangura and Police Sergeant Joseph Pace, 48, of Swieqi was acquitted of being an accomplice.

They were also cleared of committing a crime they were in duty bound to prevent.

Police Superintendent Sharon Tanti admitted in court yesterday that the officers had made a mistake by letting Mr Ciangura off without charging him, especially since the law provided that anyone who violently resisted arrest would have to be arraigned under arrest.

She said Mr Ciangura had been released after his brother, Kenneth, who happened to be a policeman, put pressure on the officers to do so, something which his brother denied, however.

Mr Ciangura suffered a number of injuries that had been photographed and the images were presented as evidence during the sitting. The injuries included one to the inner part of his right wrist, bruising to the left part of his chest and, a particularly bad injury, to his extreme lower back, at the tail end of his spine.

Defence lawyer Gianella Caruana Curran and the three officers said the injuries had been caused by the inside metal ribs of a door on which Mr Ciangura had been banging while in a cell.

Mr Ciangura's lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, rebutted such claims, stressing it was crystal clear that the injuries were not compatible with banging against a door.

On Tuesday, Mr Ciangura said he had been pushed to the floor by PC Micallef and then kicked so badly he was on the verge of passing out.

Woman Police Sergeant Maria Scicluna said Mr Ciangura had pushed the officer who pushed back in self-defence. She said Mr Ciangura fell because he tripped on a bench behind him, insisting there had been no kicking.

In handing down judgment, the magistrate said both versions of what had happened were credible but, due to conflicting evidence, he could not find the officers guilty.

Outside the court room, the officers hugged each other and their colleagues in relief.

Mr Ciangura is expected to appeal the judgment.

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