A drunken argument over smoking in a nightclub landed a man in court yesterday charged with assaulting police in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Albert Caruana, 32, from Għaxaq, admitted to arguing with the police officers after he refused to give them his particulars when they found him smoking at Havana night club in Paceville.

Police Inspector Trevor Micallef said Mr Caruana became violent and argument-ative with police officers when they asked him for his particulars.

They asked him to leave the club and took him to a police van. He caused €6 worth of damage to a police uniform and damaged an officer’s spectacles.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono argued that the incident was minor and that his client was sorry for his actions.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti conditionally discharged the accused for two years, ordered him to pay for the damage, and fined him €240 for smoking.

He warned him to be very careful because he had already been convicted of breaching the peace in 2007.

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