A young auditor today filed an appeal in court against a suspended sentence he was given for seriously injuring a university dean during graduation celebrations in 2011.

Glanville Goodlip, 24, had just graduated when a group of about 30 students turned up outside the Faculty of Maths and Physics and started making lots of noise with trumpets and fog horns and Dean Carmelo Sammut told the group to quiet down.

Mr Goodlip claims he was pushed to the floor by Prof. Sammut who punched him and injured his nose and he pushed the dean back in self-defence.

But Prof. Sammut insisted Mr Goodlip sounded his horn in his ear.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri had found Mr Goodlip guilty and handed down the suspended jail term.

Mr Goodlip is arguing that a suspended jail term was excessive because he was clearly provoked by Prof. Sammut on a day he had been waiting five years for.

He said that he would end up losing his job if the suspended jail term was confirmed and he should never have been given such a harsh penalty when he was a first time offender.