Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera will not be presiding over the criminal case in which Żurrieq mayor Ignatius Farrugia is expected to be charged with harassing columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

According to the police, the hearing was meant to have started yesterday before Magistrate Scerri Herrera, who like Mr Farrugia, has been criticised by Ms Caruana Galizia on her blog and had sued her for defamation, only to drop that charge. The columnist was later acquitted of harassing her.

Yesterday, Magistrate Scerri Herrera told The Times that the case never actually reached her and Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri had assigned it to another magistrate.

The case against Mr Farrugia, which is to be heard by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, was initiated after Ms Caruana Galizia filed a police report alleging she was harassed by the mayor on the streets of Rabat on March 19.

Ms Caruana Galizia claims he followed her around, chanting Labour slogans, photographing and jostling her together with a group of friends.

She then “took shelter at the Franciscan convent” before the police arrived.

Mr Farrugia, a popular figure in his hometown, was the subject of a number of posts on Ms Caruana Galizia’s blog in which she ridiculed the photos he posted on Facebook.