A man plans to appeal a judge’s decision overturning two court rulings in which he was wrongfully convicted of sexually abusing his daughter and jailed for almost 400 days, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Sources said that though the decision was something Emanuel Camilleri had strived for since the case broke, he felt the court should grant him compensation, too.

Mr Justice Joseph Micallef concluded that the judgments in question were based on the false testimony of the man’s daughter, Leanne, who had admitted she invented the story after having been forced to lie by her mother, Lisa May. At the time, her parents were in separation proceedings.

Mr Justice Micallef, who was sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction also ordered that Mr Camilleri’s name be struck from the sex offenders’ register.

Mr Camilleri filed a constitutional application against Police Inspector Louise Calleja, the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General claiming that the criminal proceedings against him had violated his right to a fair hearing.  He also submitted that his right to privacy and family life had been violated as a result of his criminal convictions.

Mr Justice Micallef dismissed Mr Camilleri’s claims of human rights violations but ruled he had suffered a serious injustice as a result of the criminal convictions based on the false testimony of his daughter, who had also been found guilty of perjury.

The court heard that in 2002, the mother had alleged that he had sexually assaulted their daughter, who was a minor at the time. Criminal proceedings were filed against Mr Camilleri and he was found guilty in September 2011 and sentenced to 24 months imprisonment. The judgment was confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in May 2013.

After his conviction, Mr Camilleri asked the police to prosecute his daughter for perjury, and she pleaded guilty. The police also arraigned the mother, accusing her of forcing her daughter to lie. The case is still pending.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Micallef said that what Mr Camilleri had undergone was the direct result of his daughter’s actions, for she had given false testimony during his criminal proceedings only to retract it after he had been convicted. Mr Camilleri had suffered an injustice which had only come to light when the girl admitted she had lied.

The court could not ignore this injustice but ruled that the effective remedy in this case was annulling the judgments by the Magistrates’ Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal on the basis that the judgments had been based on false evidence.

When contacted after the decision, Mr Camilleri refused to comment, saying he had struck an exclusivity agreement with the TV show Xarabank.

When contacted, Police Inspector Sandro Camilleri, who had investigated the claims against the daughter, which effectively led to Mr Camilleri being released from prison, said he had fought tooth and nail to help “an innocent man”, even if he had gone through personal sacrifices.

He said this case showed the entire investigation system was “a disaster” and how the police went ahead with the case even though they had no hard evidence.

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