Television presenter Stephanie Chircop was awarded €2,000 in damages after a court ruled that a story published in Illum was libellous.

The story had said Ms Chircop was to be charged for the frame-up of her estranged partner.

The case dates back to August 2012 when the newspaper claimed that Ms Chircop was to be charged in court over the filing of a false report in which she allegedly claimed that her former partner, Silvio Scerri, had approached a foreigner to kill boxer Scott Dixon with whom she had been in a relationship.

Stephanie Chircop.

The story had also said that Ms Chircop had been stopped from presenting a programme on One Television in the wake of her alleged arrest by the police over this case.

She subsequently joined Net Television. The presenter was due to be arraigned in court “in the coming days” where she would face a “long list” of charges related to criminal conspiracy, the story said.

In its decision, the court, presided by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, noted that the story was based on some facts which had been corroborated during proceedings.

However, it noted that journalist Karl Stagno Navarro, who had penned the article, had reached the wrong conclusions which could have easily tarnished the presenter’s reputation.

It transpired that Ms Chircop had not been arraigned over this case although the police had confirmed that they were investigating.

Moreover, no evidence was produced to substantiate the claim that she had been stopped from One Television following her arrest. It was only a year later that she was arrested, the court said. Consequently, Magistrate Depasquale ruled that the story was libellous.

The court ordered Mr Stagno Navarra to pay Ms Chircop €1,800. It also ordered Julia Farrugia, who was editor of Illum at the time, to pay Ms Chircop €200.