An English language and guidance teacher was sentenced to four years in prison after he was found guilty of corrupting one of his students in 2000.

Alexander Giacomotto, 54, of St Paul’s Bay, was found guilty of corrupting a 16-year-old boy before and on 20 October 2000. He was, however, cleared of the charge of circulating pornographic material.

In the 74-page judgment handed, presiding magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera pointed out that the whole case hangs on the credibility of the witnesses. She declared the victim to be a credible witness because he told the same story, with the same details, to a few people and repeated it in court.

The defence claimed the boy had invented this story because he was going to be kicked out of school. The court, however, said the boy was consistent and looked credible when he gave his testimony in court.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera ruled the accused was inconsistent and seemed uncertain and uncomfortable when he took the stand. She said that he corroborated everything the victim said except for the abuse allegations.