A man has been fined €3,000 after being found guilty of harassing his ex-girlfriend, who wanted to end the relationship when she discovered that he had been convicted of defrauding an elderly woman.

Edgar Bonnici Cachia, 64, of Birkirkara, was, however, cleared of extortion, misusing communication equipment and resorting to threatening behaviour.

Mr Bonnici Cachia is the man assisting the alleged sexual abuse victim of Dominican priest Charles Fenech. Earlier this week, a criminal libel case he had instituted against Fr Fenech was dismissed because it was time barred.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard that Mr Bonnici Cachia began dating a woman in February 2010 whom he had met online. Two months later, she discovered his fraud conviction and wanted to end the relationship. This did not go down well with Mr Bonnici Cachia, who began harassing her.

The woman told the court he would call her numerous times and send her e-mails and text messages. Since he was pestering her, she changed her mobile number but Mr Bonnici Cachia managed to obtain it and continued calling her. It was only in July 2010, when Mr Bonnici Cachia began serving time in jail, that the calls stopped.

He had often ‘threatened’ the woman by telling her that he had spoken to a monsignor to stop her annulment proceedings and that he had money to do whatever he wanted

The court heard that Mr Bonnici Cachia often “threatened” the woman by telling her, among other things, that he had spoken to a monsignor to stop her annulment proceedings and that he had money to do whatever he wanted.

He also tried to speak to a priest she knew as well as her psychologist, who was also a priest.

The woman told the court that he had also tried to approach priests who sat on the Church’s Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

He told her that he was prepared to write to the Vatican to prove his power.

The court heard that Mr Bonnici Cachia had admitted to these facts in his statement to the police.

In her judgment, Magistrate Clarke said the prosecution had not managed to prove the extortion charge or that Mr Bonnici Cachia had illegally used telecommunications equipment, since he had never asked for money, but had proved the harassment charge. The magistrate also ruled he was a relapser, given his previous 16-month sentence for fraud.

She therefore cleared him of the charges, except harassment and relapsing, and fined him €3,000. She also issued a three-year protection order in favour of his former girlfriend. Police inspectors Raymond Aquilina and Fabian Fleri prosecuted.