The driver of Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea, Clive Bianco, 28 of Zejtun, was accused in court today of having vandalised Mr Galea's official car and having filed a false police report.

Police Inspector Geoffrey Cilia said Mr Bianco had, at about 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve, told the police that the parliamentary secretary's car was vandalised and obscenities were scratched into the paint while the vehicle was parked outside his (Mr Bianco's home).

The inspector said the car was taken to the police forensics unit for analysis. He spoke to the accused who said he had dropped off the parliamentary secretary at home and then went to his own home, parking the car outside. He had claimed that his grandfather noticed the damage as he returned from early morning Mass.

In later investigations, however, Mr Bianco admitted that he had not given the true version of events. He admitted that after dropping off Mr Galea he went to see a female friend in Ghaxaq. On the way home, he was distracted and some 300 metres away from his house, he brushed against a rubble wall at Zejtun.

He was about to file a police report about the incident, but then feared he might lose his job and instead he grabbed a stone and wrote obscenities on the side of the car to make it look like it was vandalism.

The inspector said he had gone to the site of the accident and found part of an indicator light embedded in the wall.

Asked by defence counsel Franco Debono if the accused had cooperated, he said he had cooperated fully.