A developer, who endured six traumatic years of court delays before being cleared of attempted murder, was awarded €3,000 in compensation – which he will donate to Id-Dar tal-Providenza.

“No amount of money can compensate you for the strain that such things place on your health. That is not given back to you,” Anton Camilleri told Times of Malta after a court ruled that he had suffered a breach of his right for trial within a reasonable time.

In 2004 Mr Camilleri was charged with firing a gun at a former employee and trying to kill him. He faced 30 years behind bars but was acquitted in 2010.

The case took long to go to trial due to a number of deferments, many stemming from the fact that the machinery used to test gunshot residue was out of order.

Mr Camilleri – who is the developer behind the proposed St George’s Bay mega development – said he had volunteered to pay for the tests to be carried out abroad, but this was not allowed.

No amount of money can compensate you for the strain that such things place on your health

“I just hope that nobody ever goes through something like this,” he said stressing he did not file the case for monitory reasons but to fight the injustice.

He had always intended to donate the money to the NGO, which offers support to people with severe disabilities.

Mr Camilleri had filed the case in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction against the Attorney General claiming a breach of his rights. Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef yesterday noted that, on May 10, 2004, Mr Camilleri was charged with the attempted murder of Saviour Mangion the previous day.

The case was deferred eight times because of the faulty testing equipment.

The Attorney General then found there were enough reasons for Mr Camilleri to be indicted. During the trial the presiding judge heard that the two men had got into an argument outside Mr Camilleri’s house, sparked off by a disagreement over the sale of a garage to Mr Mangion.

Mr Mangion and his wife, Giovanna, testified that Mr Camilleri ran to his car and produced a pistol but the accused flatly denied it, insisting he had simply gone to fetch his house keys.

However, while Mr Mangion’s wife claimed Mr Camilleri fired a shot at her husband, Mr Mangion could not recall hearing the shot or seeing any smoke coming out of the gun.

The court had found the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio represented Mr Camilleri.