Żurrieq mayor Ignatius Farrugia and two women were each fined €2,400 for harassing columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia during the feast of St Joseph in Rabat last March.

The mayor, together with Maria Vassallo, whose husband runs the Labour Party club in Rabat, and her daughter, Kimberly, were cleared of assaulting the columnist. They were ordered not to approach her for a year or face a €1,000 fine.

Mr Caruana Galizia was cleared of defaming the Vassallos by posting comments and photos lifted from their Facebook profiles onto her blog. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale concluded that any reference to the Vassallos constituted fair comment. He said everyone had a right to post information about themselves on social media, including Facebook. People had every right to comment on what was in the public domain.

The court heard that the incident started when Ms Caruana Galizia, accompanied by her husband and friends, went to Rabat to take photos of the feast.

She testified that, at one point, she noticed Mr Farrugia following her. He moved closer and started chanting Labour’s electoral slogan, Malta For All, and making disparaging remarks.

She said he encouraged others to ridicule her and then that the Vassallos turned up and harassed her, chanted Labour slogans and called her names. She said she had been forced to seek refuge in a convent