A French student is being held in custody after relieving himself in public, with his lawyer lamenting that his client would be missing his upcoming exams.

Titouan Robin Malo Billaud, 21, residing at Buġibba, was arraigned just hours after his arrest after being spotted answering nature’s call in St Julian’s at around 5.45am on Wednesday.

Realising that he had been spotted by officers, the man allegedly took to his heels, with a constable giving chase. When the officer finally caught up with the young man, the latter allegedly resisted arrest and fractured the policeman’s finger.

The subdued man pleaded not guilty to involuntary grievous bodily harm, as well as to having threatened and violently resisted the public officer.

No request for bail was made.

The court, presided over by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, expressed concern over the rise in incidents of violence against public officers, reiterating his message delivered in an earlier decree on Wednesday when presiding over an arraignment regarding a case of domestic violence which ended up with two officers suffering slight injuries.

Inspector Joseph Xerri prosecuted. Lawyer Raisa Colombo was legal aid counsel.