Labour’s deputy leader, Toni Abela, was warned about the sexual abuse allegations involving former Marsa mayor Chris Spiteri but did not inform anyone else, the Labour Party has confirmed.

Mr Spiteri resigned on October 5 after an anonymous letter reached Labour leader Joseph Muscat and various media entities claiming that he sexually abused several teenagers in Marsa.

The anonymous letter, seen by The Times, spoke about “rumours” that Dr Abela knew about the claims before the local council elections in March but did nothing about them.

Asked for an explanation, the Labour Party admitted that Dr Abela was approached by Mr Spiteri’s former wife “some time ago, after the last local council elections”.

Dr Abela asked for further concrete information, which he was still awaiting, a party spokesman said.

“Dr Abela, who is responsible of the management of local councils, was the only one who knew about the matter, pending his investigations about this case. Joseph Muscat only came to know when he received an anonymous letter,” the spokesman added.

Sources said that Dr Abela did not tell Dr Muscat about his conversation with Mr Spiteri’s wife and simply looked up whether the mayor had a criminal record and found that he did not.

Allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in annulment proceedings between Mr Spiteri and his wife.

According to the sentence of the Church tribunal, Jesmond Pace, who served as secretary of the Marsa Feast Committee when Mr Spiteri was president, said that several young men had come forward with claims that Mr Spiteri had sexually abused them.

When contacted, Mr Spiteri, 44, refused to answer questions by The Times.

The Times is still awaiting replies from the police about whether any of the claims were investigated and whether Mr Spiteri will be charged.

Sources said the police did look into the case but one of the individuals involved refused to press charges.

According to the anonymous letter sent to Dr Muscat, this case caused a lot of damage to the party in Marsa and more inaction would make things worse.

He resigned shortly after Labour received the anonymous letter.