A Swedish man who refused to compensate a magistrate after causing about €3,000 worth of damages to his apartment has been ordered to cough up the money by the Small Claims Tribunal.

Magistrate Carol Peralta was forced to turn to the tribunal after his former tenant, Emil Thidell, 27, would not pay for the damages he had done to the St Julian’s apartment. Initially, the costs were estimated at about €4,000 but the figure was later revised down by about €1,000 by the magistrate.

However, Mr Thidell refused to pay and even failed to appear for the tribunal hearings.

He had paid a deposit of €1,650 when he signed the rental agreement and had left a few items behind, including a wall clock, a wall mirror and a framed picture, having a total value of €150. He agreed to pay €100 to repair the damage caused to the toilet and flushing. That left the magistrate with a negative balance of about €1,100.

The tribunal, presided over by Deborah Mifsud Attard, pointed out that Mr Thidell did not show up for the hearings or make a case in his defence. She ordered him to pay the magistrate €1,078.

Dr Peralta, 63, has been magistrate since 1990 but spent between 2003 and 2012 as an international judge in Kosovo.