Three policemen and a bouncer were cleared of beating a French student in a Paceville bar because the wrong date and time appeared on the charge sheet.

Two of the accused pinned him against the bar and another punched him and kicked him

French student Jean-Oliver Mesrine testified before Magistrate Doreen Clarke that the uniformed policemen who beat him had been drinking.

The police officers are Ramon Mifsud Grech, 41, from Birkirkara; Jean Paul Vella, 24, from St Julians and Brian Tonna, 31, from Ħamrun.

The bouncer is Jonathan Micallef, 29, from Birkirkara.

The four were accused of assaulting and slightly injuring Mr Mesrine in Paceville at 11 p.m. on October 25, 2009, holding him against his will and damaging his camera. The policemen were also charged with committing a crime they were in duty-bound to prevent.

Evidence produced in court, including the victim’s testimony, indicated that the incident took place at 3.30 a.m. and not 11p.m, as written on the charge sheet.

Mr Mesrine, at the time an exchange student, testified that on the night of October 24, 2009 he was having a drink in a bar with a friend when the uniformed policemen walked in. Seeing policemen drinking in a bar was an unusual sight, so he got his camera and snapped a photo.

The bouncer told him he could not take photos in the bar and, some time later, one of the officers approached him and asked him to hand over his camera. Mr Mesrine told the court that he refused and offered to show the policeman that he had not taken any photographs of him. The officer then grabbed the camera and the victim tried to take it back.

The student said that two of the accused pinned him against the bar and another one punched him and kicked him, smashing the camera in the process.

Upon being thrown out of the bar, Mr Mesrine and his friend proceeded to the St Julians police station to file a report. They gave the police the service number of one of the officers. Later, Mr Mesrine identified two of the officers and the bouncer at the police headquarters.

Magistrate Clarke could not find the men guilty of the charges brought against them because the date and the time on the charge sheet were incorrect.

She quoted case law, including a 2005 appeal judgement involving a man who had been accused of committing a crime at 7.30 p.m. when it had happened at 7.30 a.m.

The appeal court had quoted the prosecution as stating that it was obvious this was a typo. The court had noted that, had this had been the case, the prosecution should have demanded an immediate correction.

Mr Mifsud Grech, who has since been promoted to sergeant, is the same officer who was allegedly assaulted by suspended Police Inspector Jeffrey Cilia who is facing charges of attacking two brothers in Paceville.

Mr Cilia’s lawyer, Joe Giglio, said in court that Mr Mifsud Grech had been reprimanded and suspended for twice being caught drunk while on duty.

Last week, a judge confirmed a judgement by the Magistrates’ Court in which former priest Godwin Scerri was acquitted of raping a boy in his care 20 years ago because the charge sheet indicated the wrong place where the crime had occurred.