A man was today cleared of having intended to injure his three-month-old son in an incident which happened in 2007.

Johnathan Calleja, 29, was cleared of seriously injuring his son after the courts found that there was no criminal intent in the injuries suffered by the baby.

The incident happened on April 27, 2007 when Mr Calleja was baby sitting while the mother, who used to live with him at the time, left home to return some DVDs. The baby was crying  and she told Mr Calleja to leave him in bed until she returned.

Mr Calleja became frustrated by the boy's crying. He picked up the baby and started playing with him, throwing him up in the air to stop him crying.

At one point the baby slipped from his hand and as he tried to grab him, he pulled him by his left arm. The crying continued but Mr Calleja did not notice that anything had happened to the baby.

The next day the mother noticed that the baby had bruising and he was not moving his left arm. He was hospitalised and found to have suffered a fracture.

The matter was referred to the police.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi ruled that the baby was well fed and well looked after and that apart from this alleged incident there were no reports of cruelty. He ruled that there was no criminal intent by the father to harm his son.