Court bans name, occupation of alleged harasser

A magistrate yesterday ordered a ban on the identity and vocational occupation of a man charged with harassing a woman and offending public morals, the police said.

The 38-year-old man from Mosta pleaded not guilty to committing the offences in Dwejra, Gozo, on Wednesday.

Magistrate Paul Coppini, who presided over the arraignment in the Gozo law courts, put off the case to October 9, the police said in a statement.

When asked about the man's occupation and why the magistrate had ordered the ban on his identity, the police's communications section said they did not have such information.

When this paper insisted on a reply the police said there was a ban on the man's identity because of his occupation. The ban, a spokesman for the police said, also covered the publication of the man's vocational occupation.