Hardened criminal Mario Camilleri, L-Imnieħru, was yesterday charged with threatening to blow up a journalist and his family following the publication of an item about his son.

Mr Camilleri, 48, allegedly called John Pisani, a crime reporter with the newspaper l-orizzont, on his personal mobile phone from prison on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

The convicted drug trafficker allegedly pointed out that he would be released from prison soon and would blow Mr Pisani up and that Mr Camilleri's son would "waste him". He had other pending cases and dealing with Mr Pisani would just add another one to the list, he allegedly said.

Mr Camilleri pleaded not guilty. His defence lawyer, Joe Brincat, said the issue revolved around an item published about Mr Camilleri's son, Mario, who, earlier this month, was charged with breaching bail, driving a car without a licence and insurance cover and threatening the police officers who had stopped him.

He said it was not fair to link the son to the father and using the nickname when the father had nothing to do with his son's actions. Dr Brincat said he had written to the Press Club to complain about the media's use of Mr Camilleri's nickname.

Mr Camilleri is serving a four-year jail term after being found guilty of being an accomplice in the bribery of disgraced former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and former Judge Patrick Vella.

Last year, he was jailed for a further three months for threatening Labour MP Josè Herrera over a parliamentary question he had asked in connection with a cleaning contract the courts had given to a company belonging to Mr Camilleri's family. Even though his client was in prison, Dr Brincat still asked for bail on grounds that once his client was done serving time he could be released without having to request it again because of this case.

The case continues.

Police Inspector Spiridione Zammit prosecuted.