A man had a €250,698 (Lm107,625) fine reduced to €17,579 (Lm7,525) after an appeal court found that the first court had miscalculated the amount he owed.

Paul Agius had been fined €250,698 by the Magistrates' Court when he was found guilty of failing to abide by a court ruling - handed down on April 12, 1994 - to demolish an illegal building in Landrijiet, limits of Rabat.

On May 10, 1995, the police issued a citation against him charging him with failing to observe the April 1994 ruling.

In a judgment handed down last September 17, the Magistrates' Court found Mr Agius guilty and applied a Lm25 fine for each day he failed to demolish the building.

Mr Agius claimed that the daily fine should not have been calculated until the day when the judgment was handed down.

He contended that the fine ought to have been applied between the 1994 ruling and the day he was served with the summons in 1995.

The court upheld Mr Agius's appeal and noted that, according to law, the Lm25 daily fine started being applied three months after the 1994 ruling was handed down.

This meant that the fine applied for the days spanning July 12, 1994 and May 10, 1995. Therefore, the fine amounted to €17,579 (Lm7,525).