For almost 30 years a man was misled about who his real father was and even used the wrong surname until the truth emerged when he applied for a police conduct just over a year ago.

Life changed suddenly for Raphael Borg, 36, when he obtained his police conduct in November 2012.

Before then he had always thought his surname was Borg and that his father was the man formerly married to his mother.

Raphael Borg thought his father was the man who had been married to his mother

Mr Borg was forced to go to court so he could continue using the surname he had always been known by, rather than the one appearing in the Public Registry.

He pointed out that all his personal documents, including his ID card, passport and his qualifications, gave his surname as Borg.

Francis Borg had adopted Raphael when the boy was six years old after marrying his mother, Rita Brincat. Raphael Borg’s biological father was actually a man named John Grima.

When he separated from Ms Brincat, Mr Borg initiated proceedings to prevent Raphael using the Borg surname, a request the court upheld in 1992.

Raphael Borg insisted in court he had not been aware of the name change or of the fact that Mr Borg was not his biological father.

His surname remained the same even when ID cards were changed in 2002 because the Cospicua office where he applied relied on the information appearing on the old card.

During the court proceedings for Raphael to retain the Borg surname, the Public Registry representative argued that when a man, Nardu Falzon, had tried to have the Maltese word imqareb (naughty) added to his surname, the request was turned down.

Mr Justice Robert Mangion said he did not agree with such an argument, adding that this was a “very rare case resulting from particular and unfortunate circumstances”.

The judge noted that it would cause huge problems for Raphael Borg were he made to change all his documents and accepted the man’s request to continue using the surname.

Lawyer Maxilene Pace appeared for Mr Borg.