A man was handed a suspended jail term today for having broken the jaw of a friend of his former girlfriend and also slightly injured his ex in an incident in Paceville on July 13, 2012.

The court heard the former girlfriend, Doriette Marmara' and her friend Lynn Abela testify that the accused Carmel Zammit, of Swieqi had gone up to them in a nightclub and started harassing and insulting them. They called security but before help could arrive, he hit them, breaking Abela's jaw and also injuring Marmara'.

In his version, Mr Zammit said that while he was out with waterpolo friends, he stopped to chat with a female friend, who was also a friend of the other two girls. An argument broke out between the three girls and he told Abela and Marmara' to shut up. Abela hit him with a glass under one of his eyes and he retaliated with a slap in a spontaneous reaction.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri found him guilty of seriously injuring Lynn Abela and slightly injuring Doriette Marmara' and sentenced him to three months in jail suspended for a year. He also placed him under a personal guarantee of €1,000 and warned him not to approach the women.