A 35-year-old Canadian-born security guard was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for three years, after he was found guilty of corrupting a minor at an entertainment establishment in Paceville.

Mark Anthony Ellul, a resident of St Julian’s, pleaded not guilty to committing a violent, indecent act on a 17-year-old Dutch student on 28 August last year at some time between 10.30pm and midnight.

He also denied offending public morals and holding the girl against her will.

Testifying before magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the girl, whose name is not being published to protect her identity, said that on the night of the incident, she went to the establishment in Paceville at around 9.45pm, together with her friends.

She explained she was waiting in a queue to get a drink when a security guard signalled to her to come up to him. She added that he then pushed her towards the men’s toilets and committed a violent, indecent act.

At one point, he was facing the toilet and she could run away, she said, adding she then went to her friends and told them she wanted to leave immediately. She said she was sure the security guard was the accused who appeared in court.

Asked whether she had gone directly to the police, she replied in the negative. She said she was scared of the security man and she could not really speak English. That same evening, however, she spoke to the group leader and told him all that had happened.

The girl added that they also spoke to a Dutch-speaking leader, who went to the police station together with the victim.

In her testimony, she added that she had been to the same bar every Monday for the six weeks prior to the date of the incident and she had seen the accused there on five of those occasions.

She added that while she was in the toilet with the accused, he kept telling her what he was doing was a secret and she was not to tell anyone about it.

Ellul testified that his daughter had been suffering from a high fever on the day he was supposed to have corrupted the Dutch girl. He said he had taken his daughter to hospital and went to work at around 10pm, but denied the girl’s accusations against him.

The accused said that in his police statement he had said that he was not working on that day, but he had subsequently told them he had worked for two hours, since he did not have a workbook.

However, when he was asked in court, Ellul said he had worked from 10pm and 3.30am. He said he had never seen the Dutch girl before and did not remember having seen her at the establishment.

Handing down her judgement, magistrate Scerri Herrera said that the victim had been very consistent and trustworthy in court and she had repeated the same story she had given the police two days before. The accused, on the other hand, had not been consistent.

The court also considered the fact that the accused was a first-time offender. He was found guilty of all the charges against him and was given a one-year jail term suspended for three. He was also ordered not to approach or speak to the Dutch girl for a period of a year against a Lm100 guarantee.

Police inspectors Carmelo Abdilla and Martin Sammut prosecuted.

Dr Joseph Giglio was defence counsel.