A man jailed for six years for his part in a fight in which a Filipino sailor died on Christmas Day 10 years ago had the prison term halved.

The jail term was reduced after a three-judge appeals court overturned a jury’s verdict, in May last year, which found Charles Demicoli, 34, not guilty of murder but guilty of causing an injury which led to the man’s death.

The judges argued that the verdict was contradictory, pointing out that Mr Demicoli had been acquitted of the first charge because it had not been established who had dealt the fatal blow. Had it been proven that it was he who caused the death, then he should have been found guilty of murder, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano, Mr Justice David Scicluna and Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mckeon concluded.

They ruled that according to law Mr Demicoli should have been found guilty of taking part in a fight in which a person died without being found guilty of causing the fatal injury.

Perfecto Rabino Montalban, 44, who served on a ship berthed at the Freeport, went to the Cherries Bar in Birżebbuġa to celebrate Christmas with a friend, Claudio Priolo. At one point, two men, Roderick Pace, known as Il-Kanarin, and Noel Falzon, Il-Ġgant, fell on their table breaking their beer bottles.

The Filipinos got the beer back but shortly afterwards another man, Johann Briffa, Il-Bobo, saw the two men looking at him and one of them swore at him in English. A brawl that turned into a free for all ensued.

Mr Demicoli admitted to having thrown a small bar stool at Mr Montalban, which, he claimed, had hit the victim on the head. According to pathologists, the victim died from a single blow to the back of the head.

The three judges found Mr Demicoli guilty of taking part in the fight that led to the Filipino’s death, a crime punishable with imprisonment of not more than three years.