A 29-year-old man has been acquitted of using a counterfeit €100 banknote after a court found that it had not been proven that the false banknote produced in court was the same one he had used. It had also not been proven that he knew he was using counterfeit money.

The court heard Graham Calleja admit that he bought a gas cylinder using a €100 note. It was the first banknote he found in his jacket pocket. He said he did not know from where he got the banknote, but he may have received it from a foreigner when he bought a small generator.

He handed it to the vendor, who gave him the gas cylinder.

In other evidence, the court heard that the vendor noted Calleja's car number because he had instructions from his employer, who was driving the gas truck, to note the car numbers of anybody who used €100 notes. It was the employer who noticed that the banknote was false and reported the matter to the police.

In its considerations, the court said no one had confirmed that the false banknote which the accused had used was the same one exhibited in court.

And even if, for the sake of argument, the banknote was the same one, it had not been proven that the accused knew he was using a counterfeit banknote.