Darryl Luke Borg, who spent three nights in jail for a crime he never committed, today filed a case before the European Court of Human Rights after he was awarded just €150 by a Maltese court despite an acknowledgement that his human rights had been violated.

The domestic court also ordered him to pay two-thirds of the court fees amounting to over €2,000. 

In their application lawyers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt argued the sum was “minimal” considering their client had been deprived of his freedom.

The 27-year-old man's ordeal began on 6 August, 2013, when he was arrested, arraigned and remanded in custody over an armed robbery at The Convenience Shop, Birkirkara.

Mr Borg’s lawyers are insisting that the police could have never had a reasonable suspicion that it Mr Borg had committed the robbery. The person seen on CCTV and later convicted had a completely different body structure.

They also argued that the police had kept Mr Borg remained behind bars for an extra 24 hours although another person had admitted to the crime.

On 8 August, Roderick Grech, 22, from Birkirkara, was charged with the same crime after he confessed and even handed over a balaclava and a plastic toy gun used during the hold-up.

Mr Grech was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for four years, after the court heard that he used the €630 to settle gambling debts.

In their case before the European Court, Dr Camilleri and Dr Gatt argued that Mr Borg's rights had been breached because of an "unjustified deprivation of liberty due to an unlawful arrest without reasonable suspicion".

The lawyers also attacked the "measly" sum awarded to Mr Borg and the fact that he was ordered to pay court expenses that amounted to much more.  

"So in actual fact, [Mr Borg] is paying for the violation he suffered... Arbitrary detention, when the prosecution has concrete proof that the applicant was completely not involved in the criminal offence is a grave violation of a most fundamental right. It is only through adequate non-pecuniary compensation that one may ameliorate the pain and suffering caused to [Mr Borg] in this case," they said in their application.