A man who was originally sentenced to six years imprisonment for a stabbing someone has had his punishment reduced on appeal because there was not enough proof that the injuries inflicted had caused a permanent weakness.

Peter Azzopardi was initially given six years after being found guilty of seriously injuring Claudio Calleja by stabbing him in Gharghur on 23 March 2000. The sentence was reduced to four years and seven months.

Azzopardi was also found guilty of the possession of a knife, assaulting Stephen Sammut and relapsing.

He appealed the judgement claiming it had not been satisfactorily proven that the injuries suffered by Calleja had ended in a permanent weakness.

After analysing the appeal, Mr Justice David Scicluna upheld Azzopardi’s claims and reduced his jail term.