A 54-year-old man was given an eight-month jail term suspended for two years and fined Lm300 (€698) after he admitted to falsely claiming he had influenced a magistrate's judgment.

Tarcisio Camilleri, of Zebbug, retracted the accusations and declared that they were completely made up.

He pleaded guilty to making up false accusations against Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera when he claimed that he had influenced her judgment in a friend's case at the Zebbug Nationalist Party club last month.

During his arraignment before Magistrate Lawrence Quintano Mr Camilleri declared he had made up everything and never intended to taint the reputation of Magistrate Scerri Herrera. He was therefore retracting his comments.

Magistrate Quintano, however, noted that, even though false, such comments could damage both Magistrate Scerri Herrera and the judiciary.

The magistrate gave him an eight-month jail term suspended for two years and fined him Lm300.

Police Inspectors Daniel Zammit prosecuted.

Lawyers Andy Ellul and Vince Micallef were defence counsel.