An RIU police officer has denied claims made last week that he had admitted to assaulting a motorist and told a magistrate that the man and his relatives were making up a story to get him out of trouble.

Rapid Intervention Unit officer David Camilleri, who along with his colleague, Mark Tonna, stands accused with assaulting driver Jean Paul Aquilina in Mġarr on May 3 said he was reserving the right to request that action be taken against those making the claims for perjury.

Mr Aquilina, in a separate case, is himself accused of assaulting the two officers  but maintains he did not lift a finger against them. He stands charged dangerous driving, assaulting the officers and disobeying their orders.

Mr Camilleri filed an application before Magistrate Carol Peralta, who is presiding over his case, claiming that although Mr Aquilina was insisting he did not drink, he and his girlfriend, Jasione Vassallo, were administrators of the Facebook group called: “For who enjoys getting drunk and making a fool of himself at weekends”.

“The only aim that the Vassallo family members have is to get Mr Aquilina out of the trouble he got into due to his violent and aggressive behaviour towards members of the police force who were simply carrying out their duties,” Mr Camilleri said in his application.

He requested that Magistrate Peralta hears and decides both cases simultaneously.

As the cases continued in court today, Police Sergeant Kevin Camilleri and Constable Kurt Gauci, who were first to respond to the call for assistance and who handcuffed the motorist, testified separately but did not agree on how they had found Mr Aquilina and the two officers.

While the sergeant said Mr Aquilina and Mr Camilleri were side-by-side, locked in a struggle, with Mr Tonna between them trying to separate them, Mr Gauci said Mr Aquilina was squatting over Mr Camilleri and Mr Tonna was grabbing him by the shoulders, trying to pull him off his colleague.

Another Police Sergeant, David Cini, who arrived from the Mosta police station soon after the incident said he had taken the decision not to carry out a breathalyser test “because I had no reasonable suspicion he was drunk”.

“He did not look drunk and neither was he behaving as someone who had been drinking. I did not smell any alcohol on his breath and he was speaking clearly and was not aggressive with me. Give all these factors, I decided not to carry out the test,” he said.

Mr Cini also said that after having spoken to everyone involved in the case, Mr Tonna was rarely mentioned by Mr Aquilina, Ms Vassallo and their relatives except for his involvement in holding Mr Aquilina down on the ground.

There were also contrasting versions on the state of Mr Camilleri’s uniform, which looked torn in photos exhibited in court. While Mr Cini and Mr Gauci testified seeing the officers’ uniform intact, not only at Mġarr but also at the Mosta police station later on, Sergeant Camilleri said it was ripped.

The case continues next week.

Lawyer Mario de Marco is appearing for Mr Aquilina. Tonio Azzopardi is appearing for Mr Camilleri while Arthur Azzopardi is representing Mr Tonna.