Patrick Dalli, husband of Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli, insisted in court today that the "work" carried out on his farmhouse in Zejtun was the consignment of three truckloads of soil contracted by the person who had signed the promise of sale agreement on the property. 

Although photographs published in Times of Malta show a worker sitting on a plank of wood carrying out work on the farmhouse façade, Mr Dalli said the matter was over the delivery of three trucks of soil. 

He was testifying during libel proceedings against Times of Malta and its journalist Caroline Muscat over a series of stories regarding illegal works in the farmhouse a stone's throw away from the Dalli residence. 

Referring to a story entitled 'Minister's husband had no knowledge of illegal works', Mr Dalli reiterated that he did not know of any work on the farmhouse until he received a call from the newspaper requesting his comments. He also stated that although the property was his, he did not even have a key to the farmhouse and rarely passed from there. 

He said that as soon as he received a call from the newspaper, he called Jason Desira, the person who signed the promise of sale agreement, to stop him from carrying out any work. 

He said Mr Desira told him that his sister was removing soil from the property she had purchased and instead of dumping it, he decided to take it to the Zejtun farmhouse instead.

When asked which companies he owned, Mr Dalli hesitated to name them, saying he could not remember all of them. He said he owned PADA Builders. He referred to a sentence in one of the stories about the presence of a PADA Builders bobcat on site - also seen in photographs - and explained that this had its fuel cap stolen and was "dumped" outside the farmhouse.

There is an engineer's certificate and this is public, he said. 

All other machinery, he said, had been sold six or seven years previously. 

He also testified on claims made in another story claiming that the Mepa commission had broken the law when dealing with his property, which was reporting on a press conference outside the property by Nationalist Party spokesman Ryan Callus. 

Mr Dalli explained that he had obtained a permit for the property in 2003 and by 2008 he converted it "to how it looks today". In 2011 or 2012, he said someone had filed a complaint with the planning authority that he had carried out illegal works so Mepa issued an enforcement notice.

Subsequently, he filed an application to sanction the illegal works and the case officer asked him to reduce the footprint of the development to bring it in line with the original permit. He said the case officer recommended the granting of the permit but the DCC board unanimously rejected it. An appeal has been filed. 

Meanwhile, asked what damage these stories had inflicted, Mr Dalli said he was not involved in politics and rarely appeared in public with his wife. He said he was an artist and whenever anyone Googled his name, the first story is about his art and the second item is over the issue revolving around this property. He said this was damaging his reputation and could affect his career as an artist.

He also complained about a photograph of him painting his wife but this was never published in Times of Malta. 

The case, being heard by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, continues in May.

Lawyer Stefan Frendo appeared for Times of Malta while lawyer Edward Gatt appeared for Mr Dalli.