A warden yesterday assaulted a learning support assistant, causing several injuries and kicking the LSA as he lay on the floor, the Malta Union of Teachers said yesterday.

The assault occurred at Maria Regina College Boys Junior Lyceum in Sta Venera, where the warden went to issue a ticket to the LSA, who works in the school. When the LSA approached the warden to ask why he was being ticketed, an argument broke out and the warden assaulted the LSA and started hitting him, the MUT said.

The LSA ended up with a bruised head, scratched face and injured hand. The warden is alleged also to have kicked the LSA as he lay on the floor. The LSA was treated at the clinic.

The police are investigating.

The MUT’s version of the assault differed from that of the General Workers’ Union, which said that the facts which reached it were very different.

Saying that it condemned any violence, wherever it originated, the GWU also said that it should be the judicial authorities who should consider the case. But the information it had was that the warden had been prevented from carrying out his duties and was allegedly assaulted before he reacted in self-defence.