A man who punched a sports journalist in the eye at the Luxol Grounds last year has been handed a suspended sentence by a court. 

Mr Monsigneur.

Francis Muscat, 47, attacked journalist Antvin Monseigneur on a September afternoon in 2017 after taking offence to an article written by Mr Monseigneur.

He was subsequently charged with having caused the man grievous injuries, harassment, defamation and fear of violence. The alleged aggressor was further accused of recidivism.

The court said that it had its doubts about how grievous the injuries – a concussion which an eye specialist reckoned would heal “within a couple or a few days” - actually were, and said the prosecution had only proven that the injuries were slight.

The charges of harassment and causing the victim to fear violence had been proved, the court declared, pointing out that this had not been a singular incident but that there had been an earlier manifestation of such deplorable behaviour by the accused in respect of Mr Monseigneur.

Commenting upon the charge of defamation, magistrate Joe Mifsud lamented the manner in which this offence had been struck off when criminal libel laws were repealed, saying lawmakers had ended up “removing the grains with the chaff.”

Cases of defamation handled as contraventions were now liable to detention or a “ridiculous” maximum penalty of €58, the magistrate observed, adding that fines had to be raised “if they are truly to serve as a deterrent.”

Upon the basis of all evidence, the court declared Mr Muscat guilty of all charges, save for that of recidivism. It imposed a six-month jail term suspended for three years and issued a three-year Protection Order.

It further bound Mr Muscat under a €2,000 personal guarantee.

“The victim was a journalist and had the right to carry out his duties in a serene manner within the democratic society in which we live,” remarked the court.

Inspector Nikolai Sant prosecuted. Lawyer Kathleen Calleja Grima was defence counsel. Lawyer Vince Micallef appeared parte civile.