A man who was kept in preventive arrest for nine months was released today after an appeals court quashed his conviction of having punched a policeman.

Florinel Nitu had been convicted of having assaulted a policeman who intervened following a disturbance in St Paul's Bay last year.

He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and immediately appealed.

Despite his appeal he was kept in preventive arrest, but an appeals court today revoked the conviction, finding him guilty only of causing bodily harm to a woman involved in the disturbance. He was found not guilty of assaulting the police.

The man was sentenced to one month imprisonment and immediately released because of the time served in preventive arrest.   

Lawyer Roberto Montalto was defence counsel.

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