Five unhappy campers were yesterday fined €60 each after admitting to swearing in public and breaching the peace in an incident that was meant to be a peaceful protest.

Having arrived early at the courthouse in a police van yesterday afternoon, the men were left waiting at the front gate until the door was eventually opened. They spent some time sitting on the court building’s stairs on Valletta’s main road.

The arraignment followed Sunday’s incident in Marsaxlokk when campers and residents clashed. The protest turned nasty when a group of men got into an argument with resident Christopher Haber.

Anthony Cini, 37 of Fgura, Gerson Orsini, 24, of Vittoriosa, Stephen Debono, 44, of Żabbar, Francis Debono, 69, of Cospicua and Mario Schiavone, 40, of Cospicua, pleaded guilty to breaching the peace and swearing in public.

Mr Schiavone also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of a suspended jail term handed down last year for charges related to counterfeit money.

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona acquitted them of slightly injuring Mr Haber who testified that his slight injury amounted to a bad headache after being thumped repeatedly by the men.

Defence lawyer Chris Cardona asked the victim whether he was ready to forgive the men, which, in the eyes of the law, would mean a reduction in punishment.

Mr Haber said he was willing to forgive them but was worried about the repercussions of the case because he had a brand new boat in the vicinity of the men’s camp site which had already been vandalised once before.

He said he would not like to get beaten again.

Magistrate Micallef Trigona ordered the five men not to speak or harass Mr Haber.

In the case of Mr Schiavone, the magistrate extended the suspension period of the jail term by two years and warned him that if he were to so much as throw a stone he would be imprisoned straightaway.