A bell ringer charged, in January 2012, with stealing items from churches when he was a teenager and trying to sell one particularly expensive item on the website Maltapark has been acquitted from all charges.

The man had been charged with stealing an 18th century wooden pedestal worth €2,500 and four wooden candle holders worth less than €2,000.

He testified that he had taken the pedestal to restore it as it had been broken.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit noted that the man was arraigned when he was 21 but the items had been taken eight years earlier.

She said this meant that by law he could not be found guilty as the charge of theft had been time barred by two years.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused.