A court has acquitted an elderly man of insulting and threatening the police over the phone, saying that the charges were baseless.

The case dates back to December last year, when police received a report from two women, a Brazilian and a German, who complained that a Maltese man had passed racist remarks against them.

The incident happened during an argument which was allegedly triggered when the accused, 72-year-old, Carmelo Dimech, complained that they should not have used the disabled toilet for a nappy change. Mr Dimech allegedly called them Libyans and told them to go back to their country, the court heard.

However, this incident barely featured in the man’s charges.

According to an affidavit filed with his charges by police Sergeant Sandro Mangion - who had called the accused to verify the allegations - the defendant had started shouting at the officer over the phone. He was ordered to report at the police station the next day, December 30 at 8am. The defendant had allegedly warned the officer that he would report him to the ministry.

Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti argued that from the charges it appeared that the original incident was somehow forgotten, and instead his client was being accused of not reporting at the Sliema police station.

“A report to the ministry is not a threat and a refusal to come to the police station is not a crime,” submitted the defence.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli upheld the defence's arguments.