A bar owner fined €730 for allowing in a 14-year-old was acquitted on appeal after the teenager explained how he slipped past a bouncer.

Stefan Cutajar, who owns Chequers Bar, Dragonara Road, St Julian’s, argued the first court had incorrectly appreciated the evidence and erroneously found him guilty. Mr Justice David Scicluna, hearing his appeal, noted that the boy had managed to get in while the bouncer was busy handling tables and chairs.

The boy had testified that he wanted to get in to speak to his brother and was found smoking during a police inspection.

It was when the officers escorted him outside that they realised he was so young.

The system in place to stop minors from getting inside a bar was not foolproof but Mr Cutajar could not be found criminally liable of allowing the boy to enter the premises, the judge ruled.