Copy of a screengrab of an SMS presented to the court.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud has vehemently denied claims made in open court that a man he sentenced to community service spent some of it doing tiling works at his residence in Għajnsielem.

The allegation was made last Friday, during the hearing of an appeal filed by the Attorney General against a sentence for possession of stolen goods magistrate Mifsud handed Anthony Fenech in July 2016.

Lief Ahlstrom, a Swedish citizen resident in Gozo whose apartment was burgled, told the court that according to Mr Fenech’s girlfriend, Mr Fenech spent part of the time he was on community work tiling the residence of the magistrate who had sentenced him.

“Victoria Dorr, Mr Fenech’s German girlfriend, came to confess with me that it was Mr Fenech who carried out the burglary,” Mr Ahlstrom told Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, presiding over the Court of Appeal in Gozo.

“She told me that following the sentence, Mr Fenech was doing tiling works at the magistrate’s apartment in Għajnsielem as part of the community work. She said that he (the magistrate) told him that he would also help him obtain custody of her daughter.

“She also showed me an SMS which Anthony (the accused) sent to her to show her his connections with the magistrate,” Mr Ahlstrom said as he presented a screen grab of the SMS given to him by Mr Fenech’s girlfriend.

The SMS read: “I am doing some tiles 4 Joe Mifsud. And I told him about Louise and not seeing Kylie. He told me if [she’s] being out of hand he can give me [full] custody. I told him there no need 4 now.” Mr Ahlstrom also claimed the magistrate and Mr Fenech lived in the same road.

He will deny these claims under oath when he is expected to give his evidence

“I wanted to bring this to the attention of the court, as in Sweden these things would never happen,” he said, visibly irritated. Asked to comment on what Mr Ahlstrom had just said, Ms Dorr said under oath that it was true that the magistrate and her husband, Mr Fenech, lived in the same road in Għajnsielem but added they did not know each other before the court sentence.

“He (Mr Fenech) told me that after the court sentence, he had met Magistrate Mifsud, who asked him to do some tiling works at his flat. He said that he would get 50 per cent less of the community work hours he had to do for working at the magistrate’s flat,” Ms Dorr said.

At the time she spoke to Mr Ahlstrom, her relationship with Mr Fenech had broken down, Ms Dorr said. However, they were still seeing each other because of the child they have together.

She said she had told Mr Ahlstrom that it was probably who had committed the burglary, but insisted that at the time she was angry at Mr Fenech for the failed relationship.

Intervening soon after the claim, Dr Carmelo Grima, on behalf of Mr Fenech, denied the allegation and said that Mr Fenech had never carried out any work at the magistrate’s flat.

However, he asked for both Mr Fenech and magistrate Mifsud to appear in court at the next sitting to deny the allegations.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud

Asked for a reaction after the sitting, the Chief Justice declined comment, saying that how to proceed was the court’s decision.

A lawyer for Magistrate Mifsud denied the claims and insisted that he “does not know and never met Mr Fenech”.

“The Magistrate, who is precluded from speaking to the press, never had tiling works done at his residence in Għajnsielem and did not know that the accused lived in his same street,” the lawyer insisted. Magistrate Mifsud will deny these claims under oath when he is expected to give his evidence at the next sitting.” That sitting is scheduled for January 12.

Research by The Sunday Times of Malta has established that Magistrate Mifsud and Mr Fenech have addresses in the same street in Għajnsielem.

While it was Magistrate Mifsud who delivered the sentence against Mr Fenech in July 2016, the case against Mr Fenech started in 2013 and was only assigned to Dr Mifsud in 2015, when he presided solely over the end and the sentencing.