A compulsive smoking habit got the better of shadow justice minister José Herrera on Saturday morning after a long voting session in Parliament.

It could be that I lit the cigarette a few minutes before going out

As soon as he left the Chamber he was seen by The Times taking out a cigarette and proceeding to light it –­ in breach of smoking regulations – as he walked through the corridor and down the staircase towards the yard of the Presidential Palace.

Called yesterday for an explanation, Dr Herrera at first completely denied having smoked inside the Parliament building and said PN backbencher Beppe Fenech Adami was his witness, since the two lit a cigarette once outside.

“I smoked in the yard. I was careful not to smoke inside. I just lit it, because it was windy, and went into the yard to smoke with Beppe Fenech Adami. The lighter wasn’t mine, I borrowed it.

“I only smoke in the yard or in the Chamber of the Opposition,” he added, stressing that he did not break any laws.

When contacted, Dr Fenech Adami said Dr Herrera handed him an unlit cigarette in St George’s Square, after the two had left the building, but he could not vouch for anything Dr Herrera did beforehand.

“I can’t corroborate your story. What I can vouch for is that once we got out of Parliament, in St George’s Square, we lit a cigarette together. The cigarette in his hand was not lit.”

In a subsequent phone call, Dr Herrera said he might have lit a cigarette before going into the courtyard of the building but this was only because he did not have a lighter and borrowed one.

“If I lit a cigarette before getting into the yard it was for a few seconds. I wasn’t smoking in the corridor in everyone’s face... It could be that I lit the cigarette a few minutes before going out.

“The fact that I went into the yard shows I have respect for the regulations. Otherwise, I would have stayed in the corridor.

“If in the past, years ago, I smoked somewhere where I wasn’t supposed to, now I’m one 100 per cent attentive. I don’t do it. I didn’t leave smoke anywhere. The fact I smoked in the yard demonstrates I am showing respect. I didn’t stay smoking in the corridor,” he said, adding that he longs to quit smoking because it is killing him. “When I made a mistake in the past I said so and I apologised, but this time you are definitely mistaken,” he continued, saying he had many defects but lying was not one.