Lorry Xuereb, 34 of Ghajnsielem, has been acquitted of stealing fish from the nets of fisherman Alfio Valastro in February 2006 off Comino.

Mr Valastro and his wife had pleaded in court that they had seen the accused haul their nets onto his boat. But when he spotted them he cut the nets and escaped to Comino.

Mr Xuereb told the court that his boat had been carrying animal feed for the Comino pig farm but his boat's engine stopped while he was off Comino. He noticed that the propeller had been fouled by fishing nets. He therefore pulled up and cut the nets. He also phoned the police. While he was cutting the nets, Mr Valastro boarded his boat, assaulted him, and accused him of stealing his fish.

Mr Xuereb denied that there were any fish in the nets.

He also pleaded that his boat had been damaged as a result of this incident because the net was too close to the quay in Comino, with hardly any warning signs.

PC Manuel Mallia said that an angry Mr Valastro had assaulted him when he landed on Comino.

In view of the evidence, the court said it could not find Mr Xuereb guilty as it could not give weight to Mr Valastro's testimony since he appeared to have been so angry that he thought that the accused had been stealing fish from his net, when that was not the case.