Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera yesterday awarded Lm3,000 in damages to Anthony Degiovanni, the mayor of Fgura, after concluding that he had been libelled by a letter published in In-Nazzjon in August 2001.

The court heard that the mayor and Fgura local council had filed an action for libel damages against Mark Lombardo and John Zammit.

Mr Degiovanni and the council claimed that they had been libelled by the contents of the letter entitled Ix-xoghol fi Triq Hompesch fil-Fgura (The works in Hompesch Road in Fgura) which had been written by Mr Lombardo.

Mr Zammit was editor of In-Nazzjon.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted in her judgment that the letter had alleged that Mr Degiovanni had obstructed the works that were required to be carried out in Hompesch Road, Fgura, and had a partisan interest in the project. Mr Degiovanni claimed that he had been accused of defrauding the people of Fgura and of failing to consult with his fellow counsellors. The court said that after examining the evidence it clearly resulted that Mr Lombardo had wished to damage Mr Degiovanni's reputation and had libelled him.

The court however found that no libel had been sustained by the local council.

In conclusion the court ordered Mr Lombardo to pay Mr Degiovanni Lm2,500 in damages, while Mr Zammit was ordered to pay plaintiff Lm500 in damages.