A Spanish tourist who had been involved in an incident with a bus driver is insisting she did not turn up to testify in the court case against him because she was never contacted by the police.

Isabel Cuesta’s testimony would have been crucial in the case heard last week against bus driver Christopher Tonna over the incident that occurred in June after she had demanded change.

Mr Tonna, 41, was acquitted over lack of evidence.

“The Maltese authorities never contacted me and never asked me to testify. The police, as I could read with stupefaction, even said they had spoken to me. This is false,” she said, when contacted at her residence in Spain.

The police, however, insisted they did contact her about the case.

Ms Cuesta had complained that the driver of a bus on route 27 to Marsaxlokk had insulted her and refused to give her change when she gave him €1 to pay for two tickets that cost 94c. She said he even tried to throw her off the vehicle.

The experience left her feeling bitter and, in a letter to The Times, she declared she would never to return to Malta. She changed her mind after the Malta Tourism Authority offered her an all-expenses paid trip. Based on the letter, the police filed charges against Mr Tonna, accusing him of showing lack of respect. Police Inspector Stephen Micallef, who was hand­ling the case, testified that he had informed the Malta Tourism Authority of the case and sent a registered letter to Spain.

Ms Cuesto came to Malta for her holiday three weeks ago but insisted she was never contacted by the police. However, a police spokesman said Ms Cuesta had been informed of the court hearing. “Two summonses were sent to Ms Cuesta by express mail. The first was sent on September 1 and the second on October 15,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman added the MTA had been informed beforehand of the date of the hearing.

An eyewitness, assistant dispatcher Saviour Grech, who testified, downplayed the incident and said there was nothing threatening about the driver’s behaviour. At one point, the driver asked the visitor to leave the bus and that, he added, could have possibly been interpreted as being ­threatening.

Based on Mr Grech’s testimony and Ms Cuesta’s absence, Mr Tonna was cleared of all charges. He was unable to work in the past three months because he had been suspended.

Ms Cuesta does not feel all is lost: “I am satisfied because my objective was to make that man think twice before attacking someone.”