A man was cleared yesterday of being in possession of counterfeit cash after the court ruled that it was evident that he had no intention to use the cash for illicit reasons.

Reno Gatt, 59, of Cospicua, was cleared of being in possession of two Lm5 and one Lm10 fake notes on 28 April 2002.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said the counterfeit notes were given to the man by one of his clients since he supplies hawkers with items for sale. He said only four hours had passed from when he noticed he had false money to when the police found him in possession of this cash. Moreover, it was a Sunday and he could not go to a bank to get them checked.

For these reasons, magistrate Quintano cleared the man of all charges.

Police Inspector Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.

Dr Jason Azzopardi and Dr Kris Busietta appeared for the accused.