Xghajra deputy mayor cleared of stalking ex

The deputy mayor of Xghajra, Neil Attard, has been cleared of stalking and harassing his former partner.

Attard had been accused of stalking, harassing his ex-partner and  committing a crime whilst under a probation order in February 2016.

The Court, presided by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, observed that the alleged crimes related to the accused having created a number of fake profiles on Facebook. Other allegations, regarding harassing phonecalls were the subject of another case, said the court, pointing out that it had none of the relevant evidence before it.

Likewise lacking in evidence, was the charge relating to stalking (insegwiment) said the court. “The court file lacks even a trace of evidence in this regard, so much so that the injured party testified exclusively on the creation of fake profiles and the messages sent from them.”

Such behaviour is categorised as harassment at law.

However, the court, noting that the prosecution had based its evidence on that collected by the Cybercrime Unit from Facebook and internet service providers, pointed out that Facebook evidence constituted hearsay and was therefore inadmissible. For it not to be considered as hearsay, a representative of the company would have had to testify in court or a request for legal assistance through letters rogatory be made, said the court.

The court said it could not rely on the testimony of two officers about what they had gleaned from Facebook. Despite the fact that the man had admitted to the investigating police inspector that he had created fake profiles, neither the creation of the profiles nor the date of their alleged creation was ever sufficiently proven in an admissible manner, said the court.

Finding an absolute lack of evidence, the court acquitted the accused of all charges.