A magistrate has confirmed the Police Commissioner’s decision to revoke the licence of a Paceville club bouncer after he had been convicted of the illegal possession of a knuckleduster and pepper spray.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella, however, rebuked the Police Commissioner for failing to take action earlier, thus permitting the bouncer to work for almost a year before his licence was revoked following the conviction and the confirmation on appeal.

Christopher Bugeja, 45, a bouncer at Paceville club Escape, had been fined €700 for the illegal possession of the items found in his pocket following a fight in which he had been involved on New Year’s Day 2012.

The court had cleared him of assaulting a man during the fight but he was convicted of the illegal possession of the items that required a police licence.

Police sergeant Clint Theuma told the court he had searched Mr Bugeja soon after the fight and found the items in his pocket. He said Mr Bugeja told him he carried them for his personal protection.

He searched him soon after the fight and found the items in his pocket

But Mr Bugeja told the court he had confiscated the items from a reveller who was attempting to enter the club with the knuckleduster and pepper spray in his pockets.

His brother, Etienne, corroborated this version, telling the court he had witnessed the fight and saw his brother removing the items from the man’s pockets. But the court did not believe this version, saying the police sergeant was more credible. It confirmed the judgment in April 2013.

Following the conviction, the Police Commissioner wrote to Mr Bugeja in April 2014, informing him his licence to work as a bouncer had been refused. The licence is renewed annually following a refresher course. The police also asked him to hand in his security badge permitting him to work as a bouncer, something he had been doing since 2008. Mr Bugeja contested the decision and filed an application before the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The tribunal heard Mr Bugeja complain that although he had been informed that the licence was revoked because of “convictions”, he was not told what they were.

However, Magistrate Vella said Mr Bugeja knew which judgment had been confirmed on appeal. Although she ruled that the Police Commissioner ought to give details on the reasons for refusal to renew a licence, she confirmed his decision and turned down Mr Bugeja’s request to have his bouncer licence renewed.

Magistrate Vella, however, censured the Commissioner for not taking immediate action to revoke the licence after it heard that Mr Bugeja was allowed to continue working as a bouncer with such a conviction for almost a year.