A police inspector and a lawyer representing Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera yesterday expressed their frustration after columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia failed to turn up in court to testify in a criminal libel case against her.

The sitting yesterday was the seventh time that the case has had to be put off and was characterised by a heated exchange over whether, in the eyes of the law, Ms Caruana Galizia had been notified to appear in court or not.

The case, in which the columnist is pleading not guilty to defaming and harassing Magistrate Scerri Herrera with a string of articles she wrote on her blog in 2010, has had to be put off for different reasons including a bomb scare.

Ms Caruana Galizia’s husband, Peter Caruana Galizia, a lawyer, told Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona hearing the case the police had gone to their house on Sunday to notify his wife about the sitting but he refused to accept it precisely because it was a Sunday. Notifications, he insisted, were not meant to be delivered on a Sunday by law and should be served at least two working days before a sitting.

Furthermore, he pointed out, the police had sounded the squad car siren while at the house, “which was ridiculous”.

Inspector Sandro Camilleri, who was visibly agitated, said he had sent officers to Ms Caruana Galizia’s house four times, adding that, on one occasion, an officer actually saw her peering from behind a window but did not open the door.

Ms Caruana Galizia’s defence lawyer, Roberto Montalto, noted that his client had other pending court cases in which there were never any problems to notify her.

He also failed to understand why there was all this pomp and ceremony to notify her and why the inspector was making the case out to be so urgent.

Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, appearing for Magistrate Scerri Herrera, told Magistrate Micallef Trigona the accused had more than a year to prepare her testimony, insisting Ms Caruana Galizia, together with her husband and lawyer, were making a mockery of the court.

Dr Montalto later reacted to Dr Tonna Lowell’s comment, saying he was not a comedian and insisting that his client had not been effectively notified.

Dr Tonna Lowell formally asked that the case be put off for judgment without listening to Ms Caruana Galizia’s evidence.

Referring to a previous comment made by the police inspector that the case was urgent, Dr Tonna Lowell told Dr Montalto the proceedings were in fact urgent and were being heard summarily, which meant they should be heard, if possible, in one sitting and judgment passed shortly afterwards.

The magistrate put off the case for September in view of the circumstances and the fact that Ms Caruana Galizia had not been notified.

The magistrate noted that the police inspector disagreed with his ruling and promptly told him: “It is I who decide in here.”

The court made it clear this was the last chance for the accused to testify.