An off-duty policeman suffered injuries to his face, arms and legs when he was allegedly assaulted by an Italian man yesterday in Dragonara Road, St Julian’s.

The incident took place at about 4am.

The Police Officers’ union said it is supporting the officer, who had approached a car where he saw a heated argument between the Italian man and his girlfriend.

On noticing the attention, the Italian man got out of the car and assaulted the officer, ignoring his warnings that he was a policeman.

The Italian man, a 25-year-old chef, was taken to court within hours and pleaded not guilty to assaulting the woman and the officer. He claimed he was the victim of an attack.

A request for bail was upheld,