Two men who stand accused of having slightly injured a police sergeant were granted bail today after a court heard that their target was not the policeman but bouncers in a Paceville club.

Daniele Festari, 18, from Tarxien and Redeemer Bonnici, 20, from Fgura were accused of having assaulted and slightly injured police sergeant Stefan Mercieca, slightly injuring him. They pleaded not guilty.

Inspector Elton Taliana objected to bail, arguing that the charges were very serious as the police were attacked when carrying out their duties.

People went to Paceville to have fun and the police were there to make sure everything went well, he said. But this police officer had ended up in hospital. Four people had been arrested in this case, and the other two people would also be arraigned. Since they were cousins, tampering of evidence was a very real possibility.

Defence lawyer Roberto Montalto for Mr Bonnici and Simon Micallef Stafrace for Mr Festari argued that although the charges were serious, a reading of the police statements showed that the argument leading to this incident began between the accused and bouncers and the police then intervened.

Dr Montalto, said his client had tried to leave the nightclub with a glass in his hand and the bouncers told him he could not do so. He walked back inside and an argument broke out. He ended up being beaten up by two bouncers and his cousins got involved. All of a sudden the police, in plain clothes, intervened. The police were never the target of the accused.

Insisting that this was a unfortunate incident, Dr Montalto said that the problems were caused by third parties. The accused were young and had no police record, he said.

The court granted bail against a deposit of €5,000. A third person may stand as a guarantor for that amount.