A man has been acquitted of breaking his aunt’s arm during an argument after she threw a bowl of urine at him.

The magistrate heard yesterday how the woman had slipped and fell to the floor trying to run away from him.

The argument broke out after the woman, Maria Liberata Gatt, filed a report with the health department alleging that sewage was seeping out of the apartment owned by her nephew, Terence Zahra, who lived above her.

She began collecting the sewage water until, on September 11, 2012, her nephew knocked on her door complaining about the report she had filed. Testifying in court, Ms Gatt said her nephew began swearing at her. In response she told him that they had been putting up with a lot, especially the noise, and she had said nothing.

She went to get a bowl full of urine she had collected from the seeping pipes at her home and threw it at him

At one point she went to get a bowl full of urine she had collected from the seeping pipes at her home and threw it at him.

She alleged that in retaliation he pushed her to the ground and broke her arm. Asked how she knew the bowl contained urine she said she could tell from the colour and its frothy consistency.

Mr Zahra contested this version and said he never laid a hand on his aunt but she fell as she ran away from him. He said that when he went to her apartment to question her about the report she slammed her front door in his face before she emerged carrying the bowl of urine.

After falling to the ground she began swearing at him. Mr Zahra said there was a witness when the argument happened.

In considering the evidence, Magistrate Neville Camilleri noted how the woman’s version was not corroborated by any of the witnesses. He also noted that Mr Zahra failed to mention in his police statement that she had slipped. He said that the charges were not sufficiently proven by law and acquitted him.