A court messenger involved in hiding the records of a drug trafficking case was placed under probation and assigned 480 hours of community work on Tuesday.

Edwin Vassallo, 58, had taken up an offer by fellow worker Joseph Bezzina, 62, to help him hide the court file, a court heard. He was offered between €5,000 to €10,000 as a bribe.

A magisterial inquiry was called when the records of the compilation of evidence in the case against Angel Attard went missing on April 27, 2017.

Investigators identified the two messengers as the persons who most likely had last been in possession of the court file.

Under questioning, the two gave conflicting versions of their role, with each blaming the other for the first step.

Mr Bezzina claimed that his colleague had asked him to keep the file under lock and key in a place annexed to a hall that had nothing to do with the courtroom where the file was meant to be.

However, in the light of all evidence put forward including a court expert’s report, the court concluded that Mr Vassallo’s version was “more credible and closer to the truth.”

A social inquiry report, drawn up before sentencing, revealed that Mr Vassallo had been employed since aged 16, had a good upbringing, a stable family environment and an untarnished criminal record.

He is now close to pensionable age.

“It is sad that a long career had to be tainted simply because he [the accused] lacked the will to turn down the indecent and criminal proposal of a colleague,” Magistrate Joseph Mifsud remarked.

Court duty involved great responsibility and centred upon a strong element of trust, he went on, pointing out that what the accused had done was “very serious” and could have possibly led to undermining proceedings were it not for the timely intervention of court and police authorities.

However, bearing in mind the accused’s age, the way his health had deteriorated over the last two years, his otherwise clean criminal record and the fact that he had no addiction, the court deemed that a combination of probation and community service would be most appropriate.

Whilst declaring the man guilty of complicity in theft and of having accepted the bribe, the court placed him under a three-year probation order and assigned him the legal maximum of 480 hours of community work, besides ordering him to pay €2,784 in court expert expenses.

Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.

Proceedings against the other messenger, Joseph Bezzina, are still ongoing.