A judge today expressed his frustration at the "scandalous and embarrassing" lack of collaboration between parties locked in a legal battle for the estate of Mabel Strickland.

"I feel disoriented and disgusted by the way the case was being conducted," Mr Justice Silvio Meli said in court today.

"I will not accept this lack of civility, even at the cost of the newspapers going all-out against me," the judge said.

The case revolved around a lawsuit filed against the executors of Strickland's estate - including the current Chairman of the Strickland Foundation and a director of Allied Newspapers Joseph Ganado - by Robert Hornyold Strickland, the nephew of Times of Malta founder Mabel Strickland OBE, who is claiming that his late aunt's will was changed in 1979 while he was living in Britain. 

Frank Bonello, a former manager at Lombard Bank and member of the council of the Strickland Foundation at the time of Ms Strickland's death, confirmed that Robert Strickland was the sole heir of his aunt, Mabel Strickland, and that he had since become a Maltese citizen.

He said Robert Strickland is the only person who has the right to use and live in Villa Parisio, Mabel Strickland's villa in Lija.

Mr Bonello told the court that he had become aware of the content of Ms Strickland's will when he was made a member of the council of the Strickland Foundation in 1989, right after her death.

Asked if he was aware of any previous wills, he said that there may have been, but he had never seen them.

Mr Bonello said Robert Strickland had been declared a persona non grata for "political reasons" and confirmed that Strickland had respected her nephew so much that she had considered adopting him at one time. 

The case continues in December.