A court has ordered Malta Today to pay €3,000 in damages to a police superintendent for defamation over the contents of two stories published seven years ago, in which it was claimed the officer had used "excessive and disproportionate" force while on duty.

The articles in question had been published in October 2009 and concerned the conduct of superintendent Sharon Tanti who at time was stationed at the St Julian's police station.

The claims revolved around an incident involving a woman who resisted the police, when officers turned up at her shop to execute an arrest warrant after she had failed to appear in court. During the commotion, which was captured on CCTV, the woman's son also got involved and tried to assault the police. 

In its decision, the court presided by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale pointed out that Superintendent Tanti was nowhere to be seen in this incident. Her only involvement was when the woman's lawyer phoned her requesting not to execute the arrest warrant, as his client would be going to the police station the following morning, the court said.

At this stage, Superintendent Tanti was mulling over the possibility of acceding to the woman's request, but was persuaded against when she learnt her son had assaulted the police.

"It transpired that the woman at the heart of this incident was subsequently convicted of assaulting the police," the magistrate said. Moreover, the court referred to a report exhibited by the human resources department of the police force, which contained no complaints or allegations of excessive force against Superintendent Tanti between 2007 and 2009. 

While pointing out that it was its duty to safeguard the freedom of expression, the court said that it was equally bound to safeguard the people's reputation in case of false claims. In this case the allegations were defamatory, and Malta Today editor Matthew Vella was ordered to pay €3,000 in damages.