A magistrate this morning cleared a drug squad police constable of breaching the peace after ruling that the case was time barred.

As a result of the ruling, the case against the constable did not continue and Magistrate Carol Peralta did not hear the testimony of two high-ranking public officers who were meant to explain why the charges issued against the constable did not include the harassment of his partner.

During a previous court sitting, held on March 11, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi for the partner has asked whether someone in the police force was covering up for the police constable over two incidents involving his former partner, a policewoman.

Dr Azzopardi had explained that the entire issue revolved around harassment his client allegedly suffered after the couple broke up in 2013. Since the harassment began at police headquarters, his client reported the matter to the police Internal Affairs Unit. However, despite the complaint, no investigation was carried out.

Last October, there was another incident when the police officer went to her house in Mosta, banging on the door and swearing. The woman filed a police report and the Mosta police began investigations.

Dr Azzopardi said he had informed the investigators about the pending investigation regarding the police headquarters incident and urged them to issue charges on both incidents in the same court case.

However, he later learnt that the police Internal Affairs Unit had never opened a file on the complaint filed by the woman over the police headquarters incident.

The accused was charged over the Mosta incidents but the charges only included breaching the  peace and swearing in public.

The prosecution had not included the headquarters incident and neither had it included a charge of harassment. During the March 11 sitting, the accused had not turned up and the magistrate ordered that he be brought to court under arrest today.

The magistrate had also ordered that two high-ranking officers AC Carmelo Magri and Martin Sammut be summoned to appear before him to explain why the policeman was only charged with breaching the peace when there was a criminal complaint over harassment and alleged threats.

During today's sitting the accused lawyer, Joseph Giglio, pointed out that his client had not been notified to appear for the March 11 sitting. He also noted that given that the case was time-barred and the prosecution had failed to summon his client within three months from the incident. The magistrate upheld the request.