Another former government employee has been acquitted of accepting bribes on the basis of inconsistencies noted in the evidence of the contractor who accused both men of demanding payment.

The magistrate said she had reasonable doubt that Mr Bonnici had invented the allegations out of revenge

After the case was raised in Parliament in 2002, Mark Mangion, 44, of Mqabba and his former 43-year-old wife, Marlene, were charged with trading in influence and accepting bribes.

Contractor Carmelo Bonnici had accused Mr Mangion and another former civil servant, Vincent Cilia, of asking for money to award him contracts. Mr Mangion’s wife was brought into the picture when a cheque allegedly paid to Mr Mangion was cashed by a certain M. Mangion whom the police believed was Marlene Mangion.

Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro, who was a magistrate at the time, had acquitted Mr Cilia of the same charges after she noticed inconsistencies in Mr Bonnici’s evidence.

In this latest case, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard that deputy Labour Party leader Anġlu Farrugia and Labour MP Charles Buhagiar had raised the issue in Parliament after they had been given a copy of a cheque cashed by an M. Mangion.

During investigations, Mr Bonnici told the police that whenever there was emergency work to be done on drain pipes Mr Mangion used to phone him to do the work. Mr Mangion would then incessantly phone after the work was done to be paid something for employing him by direct order.

He said he would always refuse to hand over money and, then, one Christmas he sent his son with a turkey to Mr Mangion as a sign of appreciation and, instead, Mr Mangion told him that it would be better if he sent money instead.

Mr Bonnici then decided to give Mr Mangion about €450 because the Drainage Department owed him €7,000 and he did not want things to go awry. He said he only spoke to MP Buhagiar about the matter when the payment of this amount took ages and he was worried.

In her considerations, Magistrate Demicoli said the evidence given by Mr Bonnici was not believable for a number of reasons. He was not coherent while testifying and was contradicted by other evidence.

She said the cheque allegedly paid to Mr Mangion was issued in May when the work he was meant to have paid him for happened months later. Mr Bonnici claimed Mr Mangion had written something on the cheque, however, nothing was found on it.

The allegations the contractor made against Mr Cilia were practically identical in the sense that he sent his son to take a box of whisky to Mr Cilia’s house and Mr Cilia allegedly told him that it was money he wanted and not whisky.

The allegations had been made a few days after he was not given a tender for works in St Paul’s Bay, the magistrate noted. The magistrate said she had reasonable doubt that Mr Bonnici had invented the allegations out of revenge for not being given the tender and because Mr Mangion had testified against him in Mr Cilia’s case.

Furthermore, she found Mr Mangion credible and besides the fact that his handwriting was never found on any cheque, he had always categorically denied the allegations, the magistrate noted.

She also acquitted Ms Mangion of corrupting a public official finding no evidence to back this up.

In February 2008, Mr Bonnici admitted to corrupting a public official, that is Mr Mangion. Magistrate Antonio Vella noted that Mr Mangion had not appeared in court to testify and contradict this and, so, he conditionally discharged Mr Bonnici for two years.

Lawyer Giannella Caruana Curran appeared for Mr Mangion.