Bouncer cleared of causing injury in Paceville fight
Philip Galea, 24, a bouncer in a Paceville club, was today cleared of seriously injuring Klenvin Falzon and slightly injuring Keith Buttigieg and Darrell Micallef in an incident in October 2006.
The court said the men were not victims but took part in the fight that broke out in front of the club.
Mr Galea was also cleared of assaulting the men.
The incident arose after the three men decided to go to the club at around 1.30 a.m. The club has a set of stairs which is divided lengthwise by a metal handrail where people exit from one side and enter from the other.
Mr Buttigieg tried to enter the club from the side where people exited and was asked by another bouncer, Elian Mallia, to go around and enter through the right way.
Mr Buttigieg obeyed but tried to push his way through a queue of people waiting to get into the club.
In his testimony, Mr Galea said he suspected Mr Buttigieg was drunk because he saw him shouting and singing in the road. As a result, he refused to let him in the club and asked him to leave.
A fight then broke out with different versions being given on who threw the first punch.
The fight grew when bouncers from nearby nightclubs gathered round to help their colleague and passers-by got involved.
Mr Buttigieg and Mr Micallef had slight injures but Mr Falzon was seriously injured with a two centimetre gash over his left eye. Mr Galea was also slightly injured and his clothes were torn.
While the two men said they saw Mr Falzon being hit by other bouncers, the court noted that only he accused Mr Galea of punching him.
"The court is not convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr Galea injured Mr Falzon because of the conflicting evidence," Magistrate Edwina Grima said.
Although criminal proceedings were initiated against the three men, the two bouncers said they forgave them, renouncing all criminal action.
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Reuben Vella
May 14th 2010, 09:33
From the description of the staircase one can deduce which club this is.
My questions are:
How come most of these "fights" break out in or around this club?
How come whenever bouncers of this club are involved people end up in hospital?
Do you need to send a person in hospital to escort him out of a club?
Are these bouncers waiting for an opportunity go into a fight and give a good bashing to someone?
What are club owners doing about this?
I have personally seen people being escorted out of this club with brute force and violence galore. Punches flying and from a couple of bouncers all of a sudden you will see a flock coming from different clubs which are of the same owner. Like they were waiting for someone to be escorted out to give a good bashing to someone.
All this with the police a few meters away and not intervening to stop this violence.
It's not easy being a bouncer in a club, but mot of them are guys big enough that between two of them can escort a person out without the use of violence.
Paul Smith
May 13th 2010, 21:26
Why are clubs hiring 24 year old bouncers? 24 years olds dont have enough life experiences to do such a job. Most 24 year olds are full of crazy hormones and itching for a fight.
YOu need a proper legal code for bouncers, to many incidents have happened.
John Ebejer
May 14th 2010, 09:30
Well, according to the Paceville nightclub owners, as long as they have muscular assets and few brains, ... they have the necessary qualifications.