A 31-year-old man, who was a soldier in former Libyan leader Gaddafi’s army, on Sunday was denied bail after pleading not guilty to charges of carrying a large knife without a licence.

The St Paul’s Bay resident, Mohammed Abdalla Eljemni, was also accused of disturbing public order and peace.

He was arrested in the early hours of Saturday after he was thrown out of a Paceville establishment and reportedly was about to assault a security official.

Legal aid lawyer Noel Bartolo argued that Mr Eljemni should be granted bail. He said his client was carrying the knife because he found it while he was out. Instead of returning home, he continued partying in Paceville. The man was innocent until proven guilty and since there was a lot of media attention surrounding the case, not granting Mr Eljemni bail would only make it seem like he was guilty.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Leeroy Balzan Engerer said that apart from the fact that there were still a number of witnesses yet to testify, the accused was a former Gaddafi army soldier and therefore he was trained to use such weapons. It was the accused himself who admitted to having been trained and knew how to make use of such a knife.

This, the defence countered, was no excuse to deny the accused bail, especially since Mr Eljemni was escorted to the police after the knife had already been confiscated.

“My son goes to taekwondo lessons but that does not mean he will go out and kill someone,” the legal aid lawyer asked.

Duty magistrate Doreen Clarke denied the man bail.