A man who landed in a tussle with a police officer after repeatedly defying instructions to put on his face mask in public was conditionally discharged but warned that this was his "last chance saloon".

Judgment was delivered against Pierre Cassar, a 46-year-old fisherman whose brush with the law on Good Friday in the afternoon landed him in court the following day, with a bandaged arm and a plaster on his forehead, pleading not guilty to a raft of charges stemming from the violent episode. 

A community policing officer patrolling the Marsaxlokk promenade on his Segway had twice spotted the accused with his mask pulled down, face uncovered, seated outside a pastizzeria, a glass at his feet. 

The officer had stopped and instructed the man to wear his mask properly. 

The third time round, at about 3.30pm, the policeman spotted the familiar face, again without a mask and with no food or drink nearby.

When the officer repeated his order, he was met with a “colourful” retort by the man who crossed the street, saying that he was heading to the toilet. 

The police constable called his superior for assistance. 

But once Cassar stepped out of the shop, the situation took a different turn as he approached the officer rather menacingly, holding a glass behind his back, pulling down his mask and pointing a finger at the officer who wanted his personal details.

As the aggressor inched closer, the officer moved back until he finally reacted by pinning him down, in full view of a number of onlookers who gathered around the scene of the scuffle. 

The officer was slightly injured and his spectacles were damaged. 

CCTV footage from a nearby establishment, viewed in court in the presence of all parties, showed the sequence of events leading up to the fracas that afternoon. 

After examining that footage thrice over, the court, presided over by magistrate Victor George Axiak, concluded that the prosecution had sufficiently proved all, but two of the charges. 

While unreservedly condemning the accused’s defiance of legitimate police orders, the court remarked that the incident might have been avoided had the officer handled the situation more diligently and had a higher dose of experience. 

The accused ought to have been booked immediately for defying orders, without kicking up such a fuss, said the court. 

Allowing him to go into the shop and wait for him to re-emerge, while calling his superior, betrayed weakness by the officer who, as the situation escalated, appeared rather agitated.

That agitated state resulted in the unnecessary fracas, remarked the court.

When meting out punishment, the court noted that although the accused’s criminal record was “far from untainted” he had mended his ways and had no brush with the law over the past 10 years. 

In light of such considerations, the court conditionally discharged the accused for three years, issuing a protection order for five years, while ordering him to reimburse the officer €241 for the damage caused to his specs. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel. Lawyer Michael Sciriha appeared parte civile. Inspector Janetta Grixti prosecuted.