A woman from Balzan has been cleared of slightly injuring a police officer, after a court heard eye witnesses say the two never came to blows.

Mary Carmen Grech, 51, had been charged with assaulting and slightly injuring Joseph Fava, a police constable with whom she was intimately involved at the time. She claimed she had gone to speak to him at around 11pm on 4 September 1999 while he was on duty outside the Auberge de Castille.

Ms Grech maintained that Mr Fava had lost his temper and had punched her in the face. In turn, Mr Fava had alleged that it was Ms Grech who threw the first blow. The constable had also been accused of injuring Ms Grech and was acquitted of all charges in September 2004.

The court heard eye witnesses – Mr Fava’s colleagues – say that although the couple were insulting each other, they had not exchanged blows. In view of this, presiding magistrate Abigail Lofaro ordered Ms Grech be acquitted of all charges. Mr Fava had been cleared for the same reason.

In addition to the injury charges, both had been accused of breaching the peace. However, since this is simply a contravention, the time had lapsed on the validity of the charge and therefore they were both cleared.

Inspector Mario Tonna prosecuted.