A man was cleared on Tuesday of injuring two clubbers in a brawl 10 years ago, with a magistrate slamming prosecutors and the attorney general for the way they had handled the case. 

Christopher Borg, 51, had been accused of grievously injuring a man and slightly injuring another in an incident in a club in St Paul's Bay in November 2014.

He had denied blame, claiming he was at the club at around 2am when a fight broke out between two clubbers squabbling over a bottle of Vodka.

Borg said he had been attacked for no reason whatsoever. His alleged aggressors were drunk and he tried to defend himself against the blows.

Charges were subsequently also pressed against the other men.

Six years down the line, the Attorney General set out the articles of law for the case to proceed in court. Both alleged victims refused to testify to avoid self-incrimination.

A doctor who treated Borg in hospital after the brawl certified that he had three lacerations on the top part of his head as well as on the cheek. Some of the cuts needed suturing.

One of the alleged victims later testified that on the day of the incident, he became rather drowsy after having a couple of drinks. So he slept on a sofa at the club. He was jolted out of his sleep by the commotion and was soon escorted outside. The witness insisted that he did not know the accused. Nor did he know who had dealt him a blow.

The second victim was never summoned back to give his version. 

When pronouncing an acquittal, Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit said that the manner how the proceedings were handled by the prosecution lacked all essential and indispensable evidence for the case to succeed and this had been a waste of everybody's time. 

She regretted that despite having such a dearth of evidence, the Attorney General did not issue a nolle prosequi (decision not to proceed).

“All this caused a waste of time for everybody, especially for the proper administration of justice,” said the magistrate

Lawyer David Gatt was defence counsel.