Two men, including a notary, been acquitted of forging the cancer victim’s signature because of a lack of conclusive evidence.

Notary Anthony Agius, 61, from Qormi and Generoso Sammut, 58, from Siggiewi, were charged with forging Nicholas Borg’s signature in August 2001.

The allegedly forged signature was on the last of three wills he made. He died in November that year.

The victim's nephew, Emanuel Scerri, told the police that the signature on the last will was different to that on the previous two. He said that while in the last will the deceased left money to his brother, with whom he was not on speaking terms, he also made an outsider, Richard Gauci, his universal heir.

Mr Scerri contacted two calligraphy experts and then passed on their findings to the police, who later proceeded with their charges.

Court experts Juliana Scerri Ferrante and Martin Bajada concluded that it could not be conclusively stated that the signature had been forged because the victim suffered from a medical condition which affected his right arm and hand. This could have changed the way he signed documents.  

Mr Sammut’s nephew also claimed that he saw the deceased sign the will. Mr Sammut was witness during the reading of the will.

In her considerations, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli noted that the court experts could not conclusively state that the signature had been forged and acquitted the accused.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Kathleen Grima appeared for the notary, lawyer Tonio Azzopardi appeared for Mr Sammut and lawyer Frank Cassar appeared for Mr Scerri.