Court finds article libellous

Mr Justice Franco Depasquale, sitting in the Civil Court, has upheld a writ for libel damages filed by Richard Matrenza against The People on Sunday and has ruled that an article appearing in the column Village Gossip under the heading "Dick Whittington Matrenza" on October 26, 1997 was libellous.

Matrenza filed a writ against editor John Formosa, claiming that the article, accompanied by a photograph, was libellous, and he requested the court to condemn defendant to pay him damages.

The court noted that on July 11, 2001, Matrenza's lawyer had informed the court that the parties had agreed that Formosa was to pay Matrenza Lm700 compensation and costs.

By October 29, it resulted that although Formosa had paid Matrenza the Lm700, he had not paid the costs of the litigation, and the court had therefore to proceed to deliver judgment.

It concluded by finding that the article was libellous, but abstained from awarding damages on the basis that Matrenza had already received a sum of money from Formosa.

The court ordered Formosa to pay the costs of the law suit.