A Gozitan man was ordered to return a Bedford Perkins truck to its lawful owner today after a concluded that he had acted in bad faith since he knew that the vehicle was still registered in the name of the former sole delivery man of Canada Dry products in Gozo.

Carmel Xuereb had come into possession of the truck in 2008 when the owners of a garage in Gozo asked him to tow the vehicle out of their property and dispose of it as he pleased since they wanted to clear out the garage.

Mr Xuereb argued in court that the truck had been abandoned and was in a terrible state of repair since the roof of the garage had partially collapsed and debris had smashed the truck's wooden cabin. One of its doors was also missing. It took many hours of labour and €8,000 in expenses to restore the truck to its pristine condition.

The plaintiff, Agnese Grech who resides in New York, declared that the truck belonged to her late husband Angelo Grech, well-known in Gozo as ' tal-Canada Dry' since for many years, prior to his emigration to America, he was the sole delivery man of the famous brand of drinks.

The court heard that the vintage truck, which boasted a large plate bearing the Canada Dry logo, had been garaged in the same property since 1982.

Problems arose when the garage owners issued an eviction order against Angelo Grech in 2005. Matters were made worse when shortly afterwards, Mr Grech was diagnosed with cancer and lost all interest in the whole affair.

Following Mr Grech's death in 2008, his widow did not show any interest in the truck until one day in 2011 she got to know through her son-in-law Mario Muscat, a car enthusiast, that the Bedford was being advertised on e-bay at an asking price of £9,000. The vehicle had evidently been restored and the seller declared that he did not possess the logbook since the former owner was dead.

The court noted although there was no doubt that the plaintiff and her husband had abandoned the truck for several years and let it fall into a bad state, there was no clear evidence that they had renounced to the ownership of the vehicle.

Magistrate Joanne Vella Cuschieri, presiding over the court, observed that the defendant must have known that the truck was still registered in the name of Angelo Grech. In fact on e-bay it was stated that the transfer of the vehicle could not take place since the former owner was dead. He had even tried to contact the plaintiff 's daughter who lived in Gozo but she had refused to sign the documents for the transfer of the logbook.

Considering that in Gozo there was only one truck of its kind and all the locals were familiar with the nickname of 'Tal-Canada Dry', then surely Mr Xuereb must have been aware of the truck's real owner.

The court was not convinced of the veracity of the defendant's testimony since he had declared that he had bought the truck from a scrapyard.

The court decided that the defendant had acted in bad faith and had no legal claim over the truck. It ordered Mr Xuereb to return the prized possession to the plaintiff without expecting any reimbursement for the expenses incurred in restoring the vintage vehicle.