The Court of Magistrates yesterday jailed a man for two-and-a-half years and fined him a total of Lm225 after he was found guilty of seriously injuring his ex-girlfriend during an incident that took place in Paceville in November 2005.

Joswil Galea, 28, from Santa Lucija, was found guilty of seriously injuring Fiona Bickle and causing permanent disfigurement to her body outside an entertainment establishment in Paceville in the early hours of the morning on 12 November 2005.

Handing down his judgement, Magistrate Giovanni Grixti took into consideration the accused’s long criminal history; as a result he was given a heavier punishment for seriously injuring Ms Bickle.

Galea was jailed two years for this offence, while he was also given a six-month term and an Lm200 fine for having breached a condition imposed by a court judgement handed down in January 2004. He was fined a further Lm25 for breaching the peace.

In her testimony, Ms Bickle told the court the accused had assaulted her after having had an argument while they were inside an entertainment establishment in Paceville.

She said she was with another man and when Galea approached him, they started arguing and were forcefully taken out of the establishment.

Ms Bickle said that once outside, the accused started running after her; when he caught up with her, he pushed her and knocked her down.

Galea said however, that he had agreed with his ex-girlfriend that they would not go to the same entertainment establishment on that night.

He said he was the first to arrive at the establishment in question and despite having seen him, she had still chosen to pass close by to where he was.

The accused said a friend of his ex-girlfriend had pulled him close to Ms Bickle with the hope they would get back together, but he refused.

According to the accused’s testimony, Ms Bickle had started dancing with another man, teasing him playfully.

Galea confirmed he had approached the man and they had started arguing and had to be taken out of the establishment, but he denied pushing her and knocking her down.

He said he was going to pull her from her top and as soon as he was going to do so she fell and hurt herself.

As regards this part of the incident, Ms Bickle told the court she was at the establishment between 4am and 8am, during which time she had consumed more than 10 drinks.

A common friend of Ms Bickle and the accused said that she had met Galea when she left the establishment and when she asked what he was doing there he said to her he “could smash her (Ms Bickle’s) face”.

The court ruled that although the accused said he felt Ms Bickle had provoked him, it did not appear that any of her actions could have lead to provocation.

Moreover, the court ruled it was evident that the accused did run after Ms Bickle and that she was wearing high heels and under the influence of alcohol.

Handing down his judgement, Magistrate Grixti also took into consideration the fact that it was clear that the accused had made physical contact with Ms Bickle.

Police Inspector Martin Sammut prosecuted.