Columnist Claire Bonello has been ordered to pay  Minister Austin Gatt €750 in damages after a court found that she had libelled him in an e-mail which she had sent in May 2007.

Dr Gatt told the court presided over by Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna that he had found that Dr Bonello had sent an e-mail to a number of persons on the subject of the upgrading of Merchants' Street in Valletta.

The e-mail had stated that it was known that the project was not moving forward because Dr Gatt (or a front acting for him) and some of his supporters had bought shops in the area which they planned to convert into cafes with outside street furniture.

The e-mail had also mentioned the moving of the Valletta market while the upgrading works were carried out.

Dr Gatt denied that he had any interest in any shop and claimed that the e-mail was a total fabrication.

Dr Bonello said that there had been a lot of controversy at the time about the project and the relocation of the Valletta market, adding that one of the local newspapers had asked "Did Minister Gatt have a personal interest in the relocation of the Monti".

Dr Bonello explained that, as a columnist, she received information from many sources. A number of persons had told her that the government was not willing to find a solution to the market issue because Dr Gatt had an interest in one of the establishments in Merchants' Street. This information was known to Dr Gatt and was in the public domain.

Dr Bonello added that she had intended to send the e-mail only to one person but had, in error, sent it to many recipients.

Magistrate Apap Bologna found that the e-mail satisfied the criteria of publication as it had been sent to a number of persons. Dr Bonello had not sent another e-mail correcting the contents of her first e-mail.

The court concluded that the e-mail was libellous to Dr Gatt and ordered Dr Bonello to pay him €750 in damages.