Cleared of charge carrying Lm63,700 in fines

An Gharb man accused of failing to demolish a Dwejra building constructed without a permit has been acquitted after a court found the original appeal judgment had confirmed an "inexistent" Magistrates' Court judgment which it had annulled itself in the first place.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti, sitting in the Magistrates' Court (Gozo) heard police claim Martin Debrincat, 55, should be condemned to pay Lm63,700 in fines after a court found he had carried out construction work at Hofra tal-Berwin, Dwejra, after he was refused a building permit.

The first court had fined Debrincat Lm50 in March, 1989, ordered him to demolish the construction within two months or pay a Lm25 fine daily in default.

The case went to appeal and the appeal court annulled the judgment and proceeded to rehear the case. It eventually confirmed the original judgment and police took Debrincat to court in October 2000 and accused him of failing to demolish the building in defiance of a court order and called on the court to order him to pay the fine which totalled Lm63,700 between March 1992 and October 7, 2000.

But Magistrate Grixti found that the appeal judgment could not confirm a judgment which had been annulled since that was considered as never having existed.

Police Inspector Antonello Grech prosecuted.