The Italian heart surgeon facing charges of involuntary homicide for a failed operation in 2006 informed the court yesterday he had not left the island because of the case.

The doctor, who is not in Malta and practises in the UK, filed a note in court through his lawyers pointing out that he only got to know about the case through the media.

He said that, contrary to what had been reported in sections of the media, he left Malta on May 15, 2007 when his contract at Mater Dei Hospital expired.

The surgeon said he would attend the next sitting to prove his innocence.

During the first sitting in his case held this week, prosecuting officers Kevin Farrugia and Sandro Camilleri had asked Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit to suspend the time bar until the doctor is found. The request was upheld.

The surgeon is reserving the right to take action against the media that claimed that a European arrest warrant had been issued when this was not the case.