An irregular migrant who bit a policeman during a riot at an open centre has been jailed for eight months on appeal after originally being cleared by a magistrate.

The court had ruled the evidence was not solid enough for a safe conviction given that the officer’s statement was taken six weeks after the incident and the identification process was flawed.

Ismail Abubaker Garba, 28, from Ghana, was acquitted.

The riot took place at the Ta’ Kandja open centre in March 2006.

Testifying during the case, Police Constable Julian Grima said that as he tried to arrest Mr Garba, the accused grabbed him by the hem of his trousers and bit him on the leg.

He tried to wrestle him off and Mr Garba clamped down on one of his fingers, causing PC Grima so much pain that he fainted and hit his head on the ground.

Denying the charges, Mr Garba claimed he was just an onlooker and was not involved in the riot.

In acquitting him, the magistrate had noted that the officer recognised the accused from file photos when he should have been treated like any other victim and a police line-up carried out to identify the attacker.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia said that while he agreed with the magistrate about the identification process, the fact the victim identified the accused in court was enough to find him guilty at law.

He overturned the acquittal and jailed Mr Garba for eight months.