A scuffle with a bus driver landed property speculator Mark Gaffarena in court this morning after the two men were charged with assaulting each other.

First to take the witness stand was Younness Berrad, who said that the incident happened in April 2015 but could not recall the precise date.

As he was driving from Floriana towards the bus terminus, he stopped at the traffic lights and proceeded to drive when the lights had turned green. However, he said, Mr Gaffarena ran a red light.

"I told him he should have remained stationary until I had passed him by. He was furious though".

Upon reaching the bus terminus some five minutes later, Mr Gaffarena boarded his bus and "wreaked havoc", he testified.

"He beat me up, there was a lot of blood. Many people gathered and the ambulance and the police were called.

"I was trapped behind the steering wheel and couldn't defend myself. There was a lot of blood - you can see it in the video footage," Mr Berrad told Magistrate Joe Mifsud.

Mr Gaffarena broke his spectacles, he insisted, while repudiating Mr Gaffarena's claims that he had, in turn, ripped his expensive polo shirt.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Gaffarena told the court that he was driving past the Phoenicia hotel and had stopped at the traffic lights. He insisted he did not run a red light but had to stop at the junction due to slow moving traffic.

"He was tailgating me and then he started to offend me. He said that if I wanted to say something, I should meet him at the Triton's fountain. I told him I'll be there."

Due to conflicting evidence and the fact that the precise date of the incident was not established, the court acquitted both men.

The court noted the incident had actually taken place on May 20 and not in April. The magistrate couldn't help noting how the men recalled the incident as having taken place on two different dates almost a month apart from each other. This, together with the absence of any CCTV footage being exhibited, led to both men being cleared due to lack of evidence.