A planning authority enforcement officer has been cleared of bribery charges after a court found that the prosecution's main witness was not credible at all in his version.

Charles Azzopardi, 63, from Kalkara, was cleared of the charges brought against him as the court was not convinced about the veracity and authenticity of the main witness who had filed a complaint.

The court heard how the police began investigations when it received a formal complaint from the planning authority that an architect, Philip Mifsud, claimed that his client had been asked for a bribe for a compliance certificate to be issued.

Mr Mifsud said Matthew Camilleri had told him that a Mepa enforcement officer had requested a €200 bribe to issue a compliance certificate on a development.

The court heard Mr Camilleri explain how Mr Azzopardi and another enforcement officer, Stephen Austin, had carried out a site inspection on May 7, 2012. He claimed that Mr Azzopardi had asked him for a bribe to issue a compliance certificate because of some irregularities in the development which was not according to the approved plans. This included partitions at ground level and the size of the well.

Magistrate Anthony Vella heard Mr Azzopardi deny any involvement in the case. He said he had gone for the site inspection and informed Mr Camilleri of the problems for the certificate to be issued.

The court said Mr Camilleri was not credible in his testimony and believes that the prosecution had not managed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Moreover, the magistrate said "there was no criminal case at all" because it was one word against the other.

He said that when weighing on credibility, the court finds Mr Azzopardi to be more credible and genuine than Mr Camilleri and therefore cleared him of the charges brought against him.

Lawyer Joe Giglio was defence counsel.