A car sprayer has been cleared of altering a vehicle's chassis number after a magistrate found that there was absolutely no evidence to sustain this accusation.

Brian Galea, 31, from Mosta, had been charged with tampering with a vehicle's chassis number of receiving stolen goods after the police, during a surprise inspection at his garage, found a sticker on the vehicle's windscreen that corresponded with that of a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

The court heard how in January 2013, the police inspected seven cars in total, including a Peugeot 307, whose chassis number did not match the sticker on the windscreen. This sticker belonged to a car that had been reported stolen in 2010.

But Mr Galea from the outset maintained that he had purchased the car, which had been involved in an accident and was working on it in his free time. He told the police he had changed various parts, including the windscreen which he had purchased from a supplier of car parts.

But prosecuting inspector Darren Buhagiar insisted that Mr Galea was aware of the supplier's reputation of dealing in stolen goods and had failed to make the necessary verifications when he bought the parts.

However, the defence argued that there was no evidence to prove that Mr Galea had tampered with the chassis number - which was the charge he was facing.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera agreed with this, adding that the police had failed to summon the car parts supplier to testify in court.

She also said that the article of the law with which Mr Galea was charged did not prohibit the use of car parts from other vehicles but was about the deliberate tampering with the chassis number, which did not result.

Moreover, the court noted that although the police had alleged that the windscreen was a car that had been reported stolen, it failed to sustain this claim with any evidence.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera therefore cleared Mr Galea of all the charges brought against him.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha appeared for the defence.