A nursing aide at St Vincent de Paule Home for the elderly has been spared jail after a 98-year-old woman whom he punched in the face forgave him. The incident happened in 2007.

Michael Calleja was convicted in April last year of punching Giovanna (Jane) Dimech, a resident of the home. During court proceedings Ms Dimech said she forgave him and considered the incident as a storm in a teacup. She had also sought to have the case dropped.

Father-of-three Mr Calleja had regretted the incident. The first court had, however, jailed him for nine months.

In appeal proceedings the court noted that Ms Dimech had testified how she was punched and how she had been worried that the blow would affect her vision.

Her doctor had reported bruising below one of her eyes.

The appeals court said there was no doubt that Mr Calleja had punched Ms Dimech but since the conviction was based on the victim's evidence, the penalty was being reduced in view of the victim's wishes.

The court also noted that the accused had an overall good work record.

However, the seriousness of the case could not be ignored, even if the accused had felt offended by something which his victim told him.

The jail term was therefore converted to five months imprisonment suspended for two years.

Ms Dimech passed away two years after the incident, aged 100, for reasons unrelated to the case.

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