PN Leadership hopeful Frank Portelli has told The Malta Independent that he intends to take journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia to court for the “mental child abuse” of his son.

This comes after Portelli wrote on social media that he felt rued contesting the PN leadership election. In a Facebook post he wrote:  “I feel responsible for the pain that my family has suffered as a result of unfair attacks because of me. I regret running for the post.”

Earlier he uploaded a picture of a parachutist landing in a crocodile infested pond, with the caption: “Doctor, these hungry crocodiles (DCG) are ready for the PN leadership contenders.”

He told this newsroom that by publishing intimate details about his personal life, Caruana Galizia had made his son suffer mental child abuse. His son, he said, had been pestered at school by the allegations made by the journalist. “She can defend herself in court.”

Portelli insisted that he will remain in the contest and will leave it up to the councillors and paid-up members to make the correct choice. “They can either continue to support dirt, or put the party back on the right track.”

“The PN lost the election for one reason alone; because of the hatred and divisiveness of one blogger. She has hurt hundreds of innocent people who are not involved in politics.”

He went on to criticise individuals within the party structure for failing to condemn her actions.

He also claimed to hold a list of telephone numbers of the persons who contacted her prior to the publication of her post.

In a blog-post published following Portelli’s initial claims that Caruana Galizia was “harming his family,” the journalist said: “You harmed your family, Frank. You harmed your family when you started an affair with a nurse young enough to be your daughter, when you had two children so young that they were in primary school, and you were still married to their mother. You harmed your family when you divorced their mother and then petitioned the Catholic Church to say that you were never married to her in the first place – all so that you could marry the nurse.”