An Attard councillor convicted of vandalising the village’s church parvis has been reinstated as a Labour Party member after initially resigning and given the go-ahead to contest Saturday’s local council elections.

The court was told Mr Bonnici vandalised the balustrades in a fit of rage after promising he would remove them

Labour councillor John Bonnici, 64, was handed a suspended jail term last September after pleading guilty to vandalising the balustrades of the Attard parish church parvis on July 16, 2009.

Following his conviction, Mr Bonnici had resigned from the party but remained on the council as an ‘independent’ councillor.

The Labour Party has defended his candidature, saying that since Mr Bonnici had “shouldered responsibility” for his actions, the party believed he should not be “barred” from contesting the election on its behalf.

“If GonziPN argues that a candidate who ever had a court case should not contest, then it should take a close look at its list, in localities such as Mosta,” a party spokesman said, when asked if it was acceptable for Mr Bonnici to stand on its ticket.

The court was told Mr Bonnici vandalised the balustrades in a fit of rage after promising certain constituents he would remove them.