A 26-year-old man has been charged with punching a police officer in the face after he instructed him to wear a mask at Mater Dei.

Inspector Eman Hayman told the court that Maverick Azzopardi walked into hospital on 3rd January without a mask. Although Malta scrapped mask mandates from most places last year, they remain obligatory in hospital.

A police officer stationed at Mater Dei flagged Azzopardi down and instructed him to wear a mask, telling him he could purchase one from the hospital itself.

Azzopardi refused and the argument escalated to the point where he punched the officer in the face. He was arrested on the spot.

In court, it also emerged that Azzopardi was receiving treatment at Mount Carmel and that he had been out on bail since 2019 after he was charged with stabbing a friend in the face.

His fresh request for bail was rejected, despite his defence lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zara arguing that there was no risk he could tamper with the evidence as it had already been captured on the officer’s bodycam.