It was a Sunday evening and MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and her family had just come out of church after attending Mass when her mobile rang.

On the other end was lawyer Dr Etienne Calleja, who addressed Ms Coleiro Preca as “dear colleague” (at that time she was a notary and not yet a lawyer) and told her he represented a Moroccan man who had been married to Ms Coleiro Preca’s husband’s niece and whose marriage was splitting up.

Dr Calleja wanted to know why Ms Coleiro Preca insisted, in his words, on the couple splitting up.

Stung and shocked, Ms Coleiro Preca replied that legal ethics do not allow such words to be spoken over a phone.

Matters grew hotter and hotter and Dr Calleja retorted: “Isma ara ma tqabbizilix, ta” (Mind you do not make me mad!) at which Ms Coleiro Preca terminated the conversation and went straight to the police to report him.

Even though the sergeant at the Birkirkara police station told her there was no clear crime committed, Ms Coleiro Preca insisted that the other lawyer be charged so the police had to institute proceedings.

The episode took place last September and in March this year Dr Calleja was given a warning by the Magistrates Court.

He appealed.

Dr Coleiro Preca told the Appeals Court she had been threatened many times by the Moroccan who had made threatening gestures in Valletta last September.

Dr Calleja testified that he had spoken to Ms Coleiro Preca gently but she started to shout and scream at him, following which he uttered those fateful words. At that time he did not know Mrs Coleiro Preca had not yet graduated as a lawyer, nor did he know the situation between the Moroccan man and Ms Coleiro Preca.

The Criminal Appeals Court, presided over by Mr Justice Joe Galea Debono considered that Dr Calleja’s behaviour couldn’t be considered as threatening. It consequently revoked the warning given by the Magistrates Court to Dr Calleja.