A man has been cleared of violent indecent assault against a female work colleague.

Owen Calleja had been accused of committing the crime on February 19 last year, after hours, when the accused and the person who made the allegations agreed to massage each other.

The assault is alleged to have taken place when he was massaging her. She resisted, he stopped, and he later drove her home.

The accused had admitted to the police that the two had agreed to massage each other but he denied assault. He said the two had had an argument in the office the following day and she later told him on Facebook that she would report him. He had initially thought she would report him to his employers, and he therefore filed a report himself, and she was sacked.

The woman said she had not immediately decided to report the accused, but did so after questions and comments he had made the day following the incident and she filed the case in court after she was sacked.

The court, presided by Magistrate Joe Mifsud, said that a police report of the alleged assault was never presented.

Dr Mifsud said excessive familiarity at places of work could lead to serious problems. Places of work should have a code of conduct.

He said the prosecution had not proven that the accused had carried out a violent sexual assault and the accused was therefore acquitted.