Four young men were today conditionally discharged and placed on probation for three years after they admitted to seriously injuring an 18-year-old man from Zabbar when they assaulted him outside Mcast in Paola two days ago.

The court was told that the assault followed an exchange on Facebook.

Inspector Spiridione Zammit said that the youngest of the group, a 16-year-old, had accused the victim Ryan Vella, 18 of Zabbar, of speaking against him with a foreign girl on Facebook.

On the day of the incident, this 16-year-old asked three older friends to accompany him to Mcast. The three were Leslie Pace, 21 of Vittoriosa, David Delia, 19 of Cospicua and Paul Muscat, 18 of Pieta.

An argument developed and they assaulted Vella, kicking and punching him even when he was on the ground. He suffered a broken nose and dislocated shoulder, among other injuries.

The four admitted seriously injuring Mr Vella and threatening him. Mr Vella's parents, who were in court, exhibited the Facebook exchange in which they said the group had threatened to put their son in a wheelchair.

Delia and Muscat had matching tattoos on the right side of their necks which said 'f*** justice'. Magistrate Carol Peralta asked the two what they had written on their necks and one of them read it out.

Lawyers Luciano Busuttil, George Anton Buttigieg and Jason Grima said that while not condoning any violence, justice was not about throwing people into prison, especially since one of the accused was a minor.

Magistrate Peralta noted that the injuries were not permanent and the accused had cooperated with the police. In handing down judgment he prohibited the accused from communicating with the victim in any way.

He also pointed out to them that He hoped they would remove it, saying justice was not just about punishment but about learning the consequences of one's actions.