The man who last week accused veteran Opposition MP Maxwell Burgess of punching him in the face says he is pressing charges.

Sinclair Smith said yesterday that he went to St. George?s Police Station last Thursday and gave his statement. ?I am very pleased with the way Police have dealt with this,? he said.

Mr. Smith claims that he was at Bailey?s Bay Cricket Club on July 20 when Mr. Burgess entered the men?s bathroom and allegedly struck him.

Mr. Smith said he sustained injuries from the incident and had to go to the hospital that evening to have a cut above his eye ?taped up?. He also stated that he has been off work due to the injuries allegedly caused by Mr. Burgess and will only return to work today.

Mr. Burgess claimed, last week, that he struck Mr. Smith in self defence.

?He has left out two salient facts,? Mr. Burgess said. ?What happened was he said to me that I was ?f**ked up?. I asked him what he meant by that and the next thing I knew he was firing a blow at me and I indeed fired one back. I acted in self defence, without question.?was unable to contact Mr. Burgess yesterday.

A Police spokesman said he could not confirm if charges had been pressed because ?it is not something we normally do?. He added that if charges had been pressed Mr. Burgess would be appearing in Magistrates? Court soon.

Mr. Burgess is not the only politician to be accused of assaulting a member of the public. Government backbencher Glenn Blakeney is charged with assaulting ZBM correspondent Gary Moreno during last year?s Cup Match.