A man charged with setting fire to the former Qormi mayor’s front door in 2006 was acquitted because of lack of evidence but was found guilty of making a threatening phone call.

Kenneth Camilleri, 34, had been charged after the mobile phone he used to make the threats was tracked down by a phone company.

He was then also charged with setting fire to the door belonging to Jesmond Aquilina after investigators said that from CCTV footage taken of the house, the culprit’s gait matched that of the accused.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman criticised the police for charging Mr Camilleri with burning the door because had they waited for the court-appointed experts’ report, which exonerated him, a lot of time and money would have been saved, she said.

She said there was no evidence linking him to the door that had been set ablaze.

The court heard how the torching of the door was linked to an issue the mayor had with another man named Anthony McKay over the allotment of market stall spaces.

In his police statement, the accused said he was a friend of Mr McKay and on hearing he had been arrested over the incident, bought a mobile phone SIM-card and made a threatening phone call to the mayor, to make it seem it was not Mr McKay who was to blame.

Magistrate Hayman found him guilty of making this threat and jailed him for six months suspended for one year.

She also found him guilty of misusing the mobile phone and fined him €2,300.