A lawyer has been fined €3,000 for using his mobile phone to send vulgar messages to newspaper editor Julia Farrugia.

However, he was cleared of sexually harassing her since the police issued that charge under the wrong law.

Alfred Grech, a 60-year-old Gozitan lawyer, had sent two sexually explicit messages to Ms Farrugia whom he had never met, Magistrate Edwina Grima heard.

He was charged with sexual harassment under the Equality of Men and Women Act that spoke about harassment in the context of the workplace. This was not the case in this particular incident and the police should have charged Dr Grech with harassment under the Criminal Code, the court said.

Ms Farrugia had filed a police report after receiving the insulting text messages from a telephone number she did not recognise.

Investigations led to Dr Grech who admitted sending the messages but said they were intended for someone else.

He said he had once met Ms Farrugia during a court case and she had given him her number so he had it saved in his phone.

When he sent the message he mistakenly selected her number instead of that of the other woman. However, the court pointed out that if that were the case, why would he have sent the second message? This was sent after Ms Farrugia asked who was texting her such vulgarities.

The magistrate ruled there was no doubt that the accused intentionally used his phone to send the indecent messages to Ms Farrugia. However, the court had no choice but to clear him of the charge of sexual harassment.

The court noted that the accused was a lawyer who should set an example on how to respect the law. She referred the case to the Commission for the Administration of Justice and bound Dr Grech not to approach Ms Farrugia for two years against a fine of €500.