A man who accused his neighbour of shooting Star the dog, only to then claim he had filed a false report, was acquitted after he turned out to be right the first time.

Farmer Carmel Sacco, 48, of Kirkop had told the police it was 44-year-old farmer Alfred Vella, of Birżebbuġa, who had carried out the crime but later in court said he had made up the story, provoked by a feud between the two.

He was charged with filing a false report. However, during proceedings, Mr Vella was caught and admitted to the crime, prompting Mr Sacco to retract his admission and contest the charge.

In a case that shocked Malta, Star, a mixed-breed dog, was discovered buried alive near Għar Ħasan in Birżebbuġa on May 19, 2011. The dog had spent 14 hours in the ground with its legs tied together after being shot with a homemade gun made out of a water pipe.

The story made international headlines. An intense police investigation led to the arraignment of Mr Vella, who admitted to the charges.

He was sentenced to three months in jail and fined €10,000 on June 21, 2011 but is out on bail pending an appeal.

During the investigation, Mr Sacco ‘admitted’ to filing a false police report against Mr Vella, who owns the field next to his in Birżebbuġa. Later he said he had only made the claim to damage Mr Vella, given their long-standing argument over planning permits.

He had made several verbal reports and had also written an anonymous letter, the court heard.

During proceedings against Mr Sacco, the cruelty case was solved: it was indeed Mr Vella who had shot the dog. This led Mr Sacco to retract his admission.

The prosecution, however, insisted the evidence proved that Mr Sacco could not have known who shot the dog. He had reported seeing his neighbour shoot it at about 9am and then drag it a distance of about 150 metres to under a tree. But according to Mr Vella, the animal had, in fact, been shot at 7pm.

Furthermore, Mr Sacco said he had heard a gunshot when Mr Vella had used a gun with a home-made silencer that would have muffled the weapon’s sound, the prosecution argued.

In her judgment, Magistrate Doreen Clarke noted that two main points emerged from the evidence: Mr Sacco was always specific in his allegation about Mr Vella and he had done nothing else but make the allegation.

She said the charge of filing a false police report required that someone had created or invented evidence against someone when the accused had “simply” made an allegation.

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri appeared for Mr Sacco.