A man was given a one-month conditional discharge and a Lm30 fine yesterday after a court found him guilty of slightly injuring a customer with a knife he was using to slice pizza.

Elton Abela, 24, had been accused of seriously injuring Godwin Schembri and of being in possession of an unlicensed knife on 12 January 2003 at around 7.45pm in Fgura.

The court heard how Abela was employed at a pastizzeria at the time and the victim’s mother had called the establishment to place an order. For some reason, the person who was to collect the order went back home empty handed and this led to the incident in question.

The court said it had no doubt that Mr Schembri and his mother were angry when they went to speak to the accused and it was also convinced that Abela had been provoked.

The accused never denied he was brandishing the knife he had been using to slice pizza. However, he claimed he hit Mr Schembri when he raised his arms to block a punch.

Presiding magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona said he was not convinced the injury was accidental since the accused never put the knife down and witnesses even saw him follow Mr Schembri out of the premises.

On the other hand, the court noted that the Mr Schembri was only slightly injured and therefore it found Abela guilty of causing a slight injury and of possession of the knife at the time the crime was committed.

Abela was sentenced to a one-month conditional discharge and fined Lm30.

Inspector Abraham Zammit prosecuted.

Dr Joseph Giglio appeared for the accused.