A police witness testifying in the case against Jean Paul Aquilina which resulted in an outcry of police brutality, said that he found Mr Aquilina with a cut under his eye.

RIU policeman Kurt Gauci was testifying in the case where 24-year-old Jean Paul Aquilina from Mosta is charged with assaulting two police officers, Mark Tonna and David Camilleri, and causing them slight injuries, using foul language in public and breaching the peace.

Giving testimony, Karl Gauci said that he was stationed with the Rapid Intervention Unit and together with a colleague, were travelling in a police vehicle when they received a call for assistance in Triq Mgarr, in the direction of Mosta.

The moment they went on site, they saw the accused, on top of a policeman and holding him down, while another policeman was trying to pull him off.

Gauci said that he asked the accused to get off the policeman and heard Aquilina allege that he was beaten. After some time the accused gave in, and he handcuffed him and placed him inside the backseat of the car to calm down.

The witness heard the accused say he wanted Anglu Farrugia as a lawyer, adding that he explained to the accused that this was not possible as he is the Speaker of the House.

Soon after, a van arrived on scene and people exited the vehicle. According to the witness, he later learned that these were the accused's family, who demanded to know whether he was beaten.

He testified that the accused was red in the face, and wondered what he had taken, however no breathalyzer test was conducted as no kit was available at hand. A test was conducted later at the station and he confirmed that there was no smell of alcohol on the accused.

Asked whether he saw any injuries on the arresting officers, he said that their uniforms were scuffed.

He was taken to the depot for interrogation, while the police involved in the incident were taken to the polyclinic.

During dross-examination by Mario De Marco, the witness confirmed that he heard the accused's girlfriend tell police not to beat him, and he remembered finding this request odd.

He said that he did not know whether the accused had any blood on him at that time. When shown a photo of the accused's face after the incident and the witness said he remembered the wound smaller than shown in the photograph.

The case is set to continue on June 30. The prosecution was led by inspector Roderick Vella and Dr Abigail Critien appearing on behalf of the Police Officers' Union as parte civile.

In May the Police Commissioner was ordered by a magistrate to investigate allegations of excessive use of force by the two police officers.