A night out in Paceville turned into a nightmare for a Korean student who was hospitalised after he claimed he was pushed to the ground by a bouncer as he tried to enter a bar.

Shin Gyu Seung, a 24-year-old English language student, was out with friends in Paceville on the night of April 11 when he decided to visit a bar he has often patronised during his seven-month stay in Malta.

Mr Shin said one of the bouncers, who was wearing the distinctive yellow t-shirt of Signal 8 Security, denied him entry into the bar. Upon questioning the decision, he claimed he was pushed so hard to the ground that he sustained several injuries.

The hospital medical report, seen by The Sunday Times, lists 'abrasions on the lower back - central position and knee pain - soft tissue injury, swelling and burning upper lip'.

The dental report confirms the swelling and bruising of the upper lip and dentine fractures of two teeth, one of which is "fractured deeply and close to the nerve that it may require root canal treatment". The nature of the injuries is listed as "grievous".

The reports were accompanied by receipts from both the hospital and the dental clinic amounting to €220.

Mr Shin's version of events was corroborated by a 41-year-old German general medical practitioner Christoph Uwe, who insisted the aggressive behaviour was completely unprovoked.

Mr Uwe, who contacted The Sunday Times to say he had witnessed the incident, said that requests for assistance from two policemen close to the scene went unheeded: "We asked them to call an ambulance to take him to hospital, but they told us to get a taxi. What is unbelievable is that they didn't investigate."

When Mr Shin went to the police station the next day as advised, he claimed they did not even bother to file a report about the incident. "He barely looked at my papers. I was told to speak to a lawyer," he said.

The Korean said such incidents did not give Malta a good image.

"Malta depends on the tourism sector. Similar incidents may occur in future, but there are no clear criteria on who can and cannot enter a particular bar. Everyone has a right to be protected, whether they are local or foreign. In my case, the police failed to pay attention," he said.

When contacted, a spokesman for Signal 8 Security said that a police inspector from the St Julian's police station did visit the scene.

The spokesman also denied that any of the bouncers were involved in any incident: "Our records are clean. We never hit anyone. I am very much against it."

He said his employees were trained for the job but refused to say whether the bouncer in question was in possession of a licence issued by the Police Commissioner, as required by law. He said three bouncers were present on the night and it was unclear to him which one of them was involved in these allegations.

"I spoke to all of them. I am telling you nobody had an incident with a Korean. These people are usually dead drunk, especially the Asians who completely lose consciousness. There's no control over these Asians," he said.

The medical reports make no mention of the Korean student being drunk. When the Signal 8 spokesman was told that witnesses supported Mr Shin's version of events, he replied: "They shouldn't have. These are allegations."

He defended the company's reputation saying: "If I even suspect that one of my bouncers hurt somebody, he will not work for Signal 8. If I get a verification of who the person is, I will fire him."

The police said that since the Korean student had no visible injuries and was standing on his own two feet unaided, he was advised to proceed to the St Julian's police station to file an official report.

"In the meantime, the police proceeded to the mentioned bar to initiate investigations. The owner and a bouncer were spoken to and they stated that the Korean was refused entry since he seemed drunk and it was closing time. They alleged that the Korean nonetheless tried to make his way inside and struggled with the bouncer."

Denying he was drunk, Mr Shin said: "I only asked the bouncer why he was not letting me in."

According to Mr Shin, he went to the police station the next morning accompanied by his friend, Kim Su Dong, and presented his medical records but the police did not file a report.