An Egyptian national who attacked a traffic policeman in Floriana during the Isle of MTV concert last Tuesday today was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment.

Tamer Mohamed Hussein Rozik was also ordered to pay a fine of €5,000 fine and €1,759.04 in damages.

Policeman Etienne Grima was slightly injured in the incident.

The traffic policeman's attention was drawn to the man, who was jumping on the bonnet of a car attempting to rip off its wipers during the Isle of MTV concert. The Egyptian man was ordered to stop, however did not. He turned towards the police officer and began throwing punches and kicks at him.

Some bystanders helped hold down Mr Rozik until police backup arrived.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras heard how leg restraints were needed to be placed on Mr Rozik when he was at the police station, and on his way to the polyclinic, he attempted to kick the police driver in the head.

At the health centre, he refused to cooperate with the staff, damaging medical equipment in the process. An ambulance therefore had to be called to transport the man to Mater Dei Hospital, where he was eventually escorted and certified to be suffering from slight injuries before being discharged.

The damages caused amounted to around €1,300. The Court heard how the traffic policeman’s helmet cracked during the fight. 

An inspector in Court said that these kinds of cases are rising at an alarming rate and police are beginning to fear doing their job.  He said that the man did later apologise, however the “idea of attacking a policeman on the job, then apologising and receiving a suspended sentence is harming the criminal justice system”.

The Court heard that the reason Mr Rozik originally turned violent was has he was hit slightly by a car. No bail was granted due to the seriousness of the crime. 

 Inspectors Pierre Guido Saliba and Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee prosecuted.