Nicholas Aquilina, 20, suffered serious injuries to his face yesterday and had to have surgery, following a fight at a Paceville nightclub.

Not a single police officer was in sight in Paceville early yesterday morning when a bad fight broke out inside a nightclub and spilled out on to the street, greviously injuring a 20-year-old.

Nicholas Aquilina, from Marsa, was waiting for his friend outside the club when he realised a group of men had started fighting inside. These then moved outside, close to where he was standing, and when they moved closer to him he stretched out his arms to protect himself.

“Before he knew what hit him, the group turned on him,” the young man’s mother, Charmaine, said yesterday. As a result, Mr Aquilina suffered serious lacerations to his face and had to undergo plastic surgery.

His mother said that at the time of the incident, there were no police officers anywhere in the area.

This was confirmed by the police, who said that initial reports indicated the first officers on site had come from the St Julian’s police station after they were called to the scene by the victim’s cousin.

Safety and security at Paceville has, in recent months, come under harsh criticism after a string of incidents made it to the headlines.

Earlier this month, a British tourist complained of weakening security in Paceville after her daughter was attacked inside a club and bouncers were slow to help out. Her 24-year-old daughter suffered head injuries and had to be treated in hospital after a man assaulted her. Another woman claimed she had been raped during a night out.

Nicholas is unrecognisable and he only just started speaking to us. He will be having more tests later on and a lengthy recovery period

In September, a Libyan man went on a stabbing spree at the nightlife hub, injuring a number of people. Following the incident, the government said it had boosted the police presence in Paceville.

In the latest incident, Mr Aquilina’s attackers continued to beat him up even after he tried locking himself inside one of the fast-food restaurants nearby.

“When he realised he couldn’t fight them off, he rushed to the nearest restaurant, thinking he would be safe but they continued beating him up there.

“There wasn’t even a single police officer anywhere close. His cousin, who happened to be nearby, had to try and help him out while he called for assistance,” Ms Aquilina said, pointing out that the bouncers who came out of the clubs in the area were also useless.

Believing he was the one who had instigated the fight, some of the bouncers even turned on her son, beating him with their batons, the mother claimed.

In an attempt to try and scare them away, Mr Aquilina’s cousin started yelling for the police, but this was all in vain since no officers could be seen anywhere close, the cousin told the Times of Malta.

In fact, the police only showed up some 45 minutes later, he said.

While shocked at yesterday’s events, Ms Aquilina said she was not surprised such an incident had taken place, since her son often complained that fights regularly took place at Paceville and there rarely seemed to be anyone to help out.

“Nicholas is unrecognisable and he only just started speaking to us. He will be having more tests later on and a lengthy recovery period. He’s mentioned fights at Paceville before, but I never thought the situation had become this bad.”