(Adds PN's condemnation)

Labour councillor John Bonnici, 62 of Attard, this morning admitted in court to having caused damaged of €350 to the parvis of Attard parish church on July 16 last year.

The police told the court that Mr Bonnici had initially denied his involvement, but new witnesses then came forward and said he was the person who had damaged the balustrades of the parvis. His reason was the fact that the balustrades were blocking easy access to the Labour Party club and people had to walk around the church to get to it.

Mr Bonnici had asked the mayor to remove them, but after the request was turned down he took matters into his own hands and damaged some of the balustrades with a plank of wood.

Inspector Elton Taliana said that as a member of the council, Mr Bonnici should be setting an example not doing the contrary.

Defence counsel Maria Azzopardi said her client had a lot of pressure as he had promised to remove the balustrades because even the band club wanted them removed.

Magistrate Edwina Grima said the court had noted the admission of the accused and the fact that he would pay for the damage, The court therefore imposed a five-month jail term suspended for a year.

PN'S CONDEMNATION

The PN in a statement condemned the act of vandalism and said it expected the Labour Party's administration to take disciplinary action against this councillor.

It said that through his behaviour, Mr Bonnici, rendered his position as councillor untenable.

AD's CONDEMNATION

AD's Attard councillor Ralph Cassar said that the way to resolve conflicts and disagreements was through discussion and dialogue.

Vandalism was never justifiable, he said.