Two lawyers exchanged loaded comments during a hearing in court yesterday and the magistrate had to bring the situation under control by hurriedly putting off the case for judgment.

The tit-for-tat exchange was between Toni Abela and Joe Zammit Maempel, during final submissions in a libel suit that the Labour Party deputy leader had filed against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The case, which is being heard by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, is over a blog in which she described Dr Abela as “a clown” and as someone who was “crassly incompetent”.

The blog was uploaded in August 2008, soon after Dr Abela was elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Dr Abela was making submissions when he referred to a case in which Ms Caruana Galizia allegedly failed to declare income from some of her magazines.

Dr Abela walked out of the courtroom, saying he could not accept such comments

Dr Zammit Maempel said in reply: “You’ve got a cheek to mention those things... Who are you to talk when you did not even know the difference between a white block and a block of ice?”

He was referring to a case revolving around suspected drug dealing at the Safi Labour club in 2011.

The club president had caught someone cutting up drugs in the kitchen.

He disposed of the drugs and reported the matter to Dr Abela, who holds the legal title for Labour’s clubs.

Dr Abela did not report the matter to the police.

In a tape recording that emerged later he was heard to say: “A club president, a responsible man… found a man in the kitchen… who was cutting up a white block… That very day I sacked [the barman]. I told him: ‘What do you want me to do, file a report at the police station to get you in trouble?”

The incident had prompted calls for him to resign just weeks before the last general election in 2013.

In court yesterday, he took offence at the comment made by Dr Zammit Maempel: “You should be ashamed of yourself for passing such remarks,” he told his fellow lawyer.

In an attempt to bring the situation under control, Magistrate Depasquale put the case off for judgment.

Dr Abela walked out of the courtroom, saying he could not accept such comments being made.