“Such disputes are not solved by punches,” Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna told a soldier who was arraigned before him yesterday, charged with punching the owner of a hot dog stand in a dispute over permits.

Alexander Camilleri, 39, from Gudja stood charged with punching Adrian Sarcia in the face following a heated dispute over a space in which to park their hot-dog stand outside a club in Ta’ Qali last Tuesday evening.

He was also charged with pushing another man, Carmel Sarcia and with disturbing the peace, but pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

Mr Camilleri, who helps his partner out on the hot dog stand she owns, claimed that they had been setting up there for a long time and the other man did not have permission. The matter was then settled by the Rabat police.

The prosecution, led by Inspector Kevin Farrugia, opposed the request for bail; for fear that he may communicate with the witnesses and the fact that punching someone in the face was a serious offence.

However defence lawyer Edward Gatt, who appeared for the accused together with Joe Giglio, pointed out that he did not feel his client should be denied bail, as he had a blemish-free police record, was mature and part of the Armed Forces of Malta. He was granted bail, against a personal guarantee of €1,000.