A man who broke a beer bottle on a woman’s face in Paceville in 2006, grievously injuring her, has been given a suspended jail term following a 13-year wait and conflicting accounts by the people involved.

Gordon Farrugia, currently 43-years-old, had grievously injured a 24-year-old woman who was sitting at a bar drinking with her friends in a Paceville club.

According to the victim, she was having a drink at the bar when two women who were dancing nearby nudged her. An argument quickly followed, with the two men pulling her hair, biting her and hitting her.

Soon after, Farrugia suddenly walked up to her and smashed the bottle on her face.

A doctor testified that the woman had sustained cuts to her forehead and fractures to her nasal bone as a result of the hit. The cuts were “clean”, which indicated the use of a sharp cutting object, such as sharp glass.

However, the accused gave a different version of events, saying he wasn’t even there.

“I wasn’t even there and I don’t know her [the victim]. I had nothing to do with it,” he said in court. A number of his friends who were present at the time said he wasn’t there either.

One of the dancers said the victim herself had started the argument, saying that she had been hit in the face by a glass thrown by the victim before the fight started. The dancer also said no one had touched the victim.

Following the conflicting testimonies, Magistrate Ian Farrugia gave more weight to the prosecution and found Farrugia guilty of having grievously injured the victim without intent to kill or endanger her life.

He was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for three years.

Inspector Nikolai Sant prosecuted.

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