The police were quick to say a slapping incident involving an officer was being investigated but are now refusing to answer questions about the outcome.

“Kindly note that conclusions of police internal investigations are not published,” was the curt reply received in reply to questions on the subject.

The incident came to light in a video posted to Facebook group Malta Diżastru Totali (Malta a complete disaster) in which two officers were seen beckoning a man skinny dipping at St George’s bay to come ashore.

The naked man was seen slowly pulling himself up towards the beach, as one of the officers tossed him what appeared to be a pair of boxer shorts.

The man struggled to put on his underwear and, as he wobbled back ashore, one of the officers, who has since been identified as Mark Cremona, appeared to slap him across the face before storming off and fetching the rest of the man’s clothes.

There’s no two ways about it: there was excessiveness in his actions, but it was not a slap

As criticism mounted online, the police were quick to issue a statement saying its internal affairs unit was investigating the incident.

A few days later, Police Inspector Sandro Camilleri, the president of the Police Officers Union, of which PC Cremona is a member, defended him.

He kept up the defence when contacted yesterday, though he did reiterate that the officer’s actions were “excessive” and that the policeman was “violent” with the bather.

Mr Camilleri said he was not informed about the outcome of the internal investigation but confirmed that the constable had been summoned by the internal affairs unit and had released a statement.

Mr Camilleri insisted the bather had not been slapped and had not even lodged a complaint against the officer.

“There’s no two ways about it: there was excessiveness in his actions, but it was not a slap, and there was no formal complaint against the officer,” Mr Camilleri told the Times of Malta when contacted.

He said he would not be surprised if action was taken against the constable through what is known as a ‘charge’ within the force. The constable could face a suspension, which could consist of the forfeiture of one day’s salary and the loss of a day from his annual vacation leave.

Mr Camilleri said that a lot had been said about the incident but other instances involving violence against the police went unnoticed and unreported.