A money dispute between two men escalated into a violent argument which left one of them nursing slight injuries and landed the other behind bars.

The accused had been placed under probation just 12 days ago in separate proceedings.

Glenn Abela, 30, a security officer from Dingli, but claiming to reside at Marsa, met the other man in Marsa on Wednesday at around 9.30am.

When the two men came face to face, an argument broke out during which Mr Abela allegedly hit the other with a knife, slightly injuring him. He also vented his anger on a van belonging to the victim, striking it with the weapon.

Met with the aggression, the latter tried to make his escape but only succeeded in crashing his van straight into the BMW belonging to the aggressor.

He was arrested and arraigned on Thursday charged with assaulting the victim with a pointed instrument, slightly injuring him, insulting and threatening him, carrying a weapon without a police licence and while committing a crime against the person, as well as causing the alleged victim to fear violence.

The man was also charged with voluntary damage to the other man's property and breaching the peace. He was charged with breaching a three-year probation order issued on November 10 after he injured and insulted a Transport Malta Official and undressed in public.

Defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran requested bail but this was denied by the court, presided over by magistrate Ian Farrugia in view of the fear of tampering with evidence since the alleged victim was still to testify.

Inspector Stacy Attard prosecuted.