A bar owner and his son were today acquitted of attempted serious injury of an Eritrean man after a court found that they had fired pistols in self-defence after a group of people attacked them and their bar.

Raymond Magri and his son Deniro of the Tiger Bar in Marsa were however fined for firing weapons in public and using unlicensed weapons – which have still not been found by the police.

The case took place in the early hours of February 9, 2007.

The court heard that a number of immigrants who were in the bar started molesting some Maltese women.

The foreigners were asked to leave, but they then returned with a large group of people, some of them carrying stones and pieces of wood. They attacked the bar, breaking windows and smashing equipment.

According to ballistic experts, 15 shots were fired, most of them at the ceiling or in the air, but one migrant was shot in a leg and slightly injured.

Bar owner Raymond Magri was also injured in the incident.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi said there was no doubt that the accused had fired the shots and they had no licence to carry firearms. But the weapons were clearly used for self-defence to protect the bar owners and their property.

The two were acquitted of attempted serious injury of  the migrant, who was drunk at the time, because it could not be established who had shot him.

Raymond Magri was fined €700 for the illegal possession of a weapon and its use in a public space. Deniro was fined €500 for the same reasons.