The host of former radio show Tagħna Lkoll has been ordered to pay €3,000 in libel damages to a now-retired member of the police force in a judgment deploring the “poor and unethical” quality of the show, possibly reflecting “the unhappy state of public media in general”.
Patrick Cassar, a former police sergeant stationed at the RIU with 23 years of experience and a shooting instructor specially trained in VIP protection, had filed libel proceedings after David Thake read an email in June 2016 in the course of his daily programme which used to be aired on Radio 101.
The contents of that email, allegedly sent by a follower of the programme, had lamented certain irregularities within the police force and claimed that the applicant, identified by his rank and number, was a "taghna lkoll" member who lacked knowledge but considered himself as good as some Navy Seal or a Special Forces Operator.
The contents of the email were read out in full by the programme presenter, Mr Thake, whose line of defence, when summoned to defend himself against the allegations of libel, was that “when a person called the station, I could not censor anyone,” adding that he always used to read out “every...
