A man initially handed a six-year prison term will now be re-sentenced after the original judgment was annulled due to a substantive error.

Twain Sciberras will re-appear before a different Magistrate after being found guilty of attacking two bouncers with a knuckleduster in a Paceville bar in 2019.

The injuries suffered by the victims had been certified as grievous, with the Court of Magistrates also making reference to the relevant Criminal Code provisions on grievous bodily harm. Yet, in its sentence, the Court held that Sciberras had caused 'slight' bodily harm - a lower classification of injury.

At appellate stage, it was contended that said error merited the annulment of the original judgment. The prosecution disagreed, countering that this was nothing more than a simple oversight.

Although the Court of Appeal remarked that not all errors in judgments merit the annulment thereof, it also noted that the Court of First Instance had not adequately defined the crimes in terms of which the defendant was found guilty.

The judgment was thus annulled, with the Court furthermore ordering that the case be sent back to the Magistrates' Court for re-sentencing.

The court of appeal was presided over by Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Arthur Azzopardi appeared for the defendant.