A Gozitan man has been cleared of stealing fish from another man's nets after a court heard how the nets got caught in his motor and he had to cut them loose.

Alfio Valastro, of Mellieħa, and his wife Lucia said they spotted 34-year-old Lorry Xuereb, of Għajnsielem, pull up Mr Valastro's fishing nets just off Comino in February 2006 and then cut the nets loose after realising that the couple had seen him.

Mr Xuereb then allegedly sped off followed by Mr Valastro who managed to catch up with him and jump aboard his boat to confront him about the incident.

The two men agreed to stop in Comino and sort out the problem. However, by that time Mr Xuereb had phoned the police and on arriving they were approached by plainclothes policemen.

Testifying, Mr Xuereb said he had cut the nets loose because they got caught up in his motor and stopped the boat. He pleaded not guilty to stealing the fish and causing damage to the nets.

He said that he was transporting pig feed to the pig farm on Comino when he noticed that his engine had stopped running and realised that there were nets caught up in the motor.

He lifted them, cut them loose and pulled them aboard to ensure that this did not happen again. He added that, after that, a very angry Mr Valastro caught up with him and jumped aboard and accused him of stealing his fish.

Mr Valastro claimed that his nets were well marked with four white corks floating above them. However, Mr Xuereb testified that there was only one black coloured and small cork above the nets and as a result he missed them.

In fact, Mr Xuereb exhibited a repair bill for work carried out on the motor because of the damage from the nets, adding that the nets were far too close to the shore. He also claimed that there were no fish in the nets.

Magistrate Edwina Grima said she could not give weight to the evidence of Mr Valastro as it was likely that he was so angry that he thought the accused was stealing fish from him when this was not the case.

She added that "in every case there is a doubt about what allegedly and actually happened and this doubt goes in favour of the accused".

The court said that it could not find him guilty of damaging the nets or stealing the fish.