Vince Farrugia, the director general of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU invented evidence against former council member Sandro Chetcuti accused of trying to kill him, defence lawyers are arguing.

Lawyers Emanuel Mallia and Edward Gatt made the comment when replying to an application filed by Mr Farrugia’s lawyers who are asking the court to ban publication of the contents of text messages retrieved from their client’s mobile phone.

Mr Farrugia said the details of what was found on his SIM card, contained in a report drawn up by a court expert, were being “used and abused” by sections of the media.

Furthermore, the expert’s report was being used by the media “for their partisan reasons” and this was having a harmful effect on Mr Farrugia’s reputation.

But the defence team argued that Mr Farrugia had fabricated and invented evidence and contacted journalists to give a bias against Mr Chetcuti in their reports. Members of his family contacted and tried to influence witnesses and Mr Farrugia made political contact with the authorities for them to exert pressure on the case, Dr Mallia and Dr Gatt said.

Mr Farrugia was feeling uncomfortable with the media attention, which he himself had sparked, because the press was beginning to lift the veil on what had actually happened, the lawyers insisted.

They submitted that Mr Farrugia’s request was not legally correct and if he felt offended by anything written in the media then he had other remedies at law to seek.

A decision by Magistrate Edwina Grima is pending.