Appeals court confirms racial hatred charges against Norman Lowell

Far rightist Norman Lowell had a two-year prison sentence, suspended for four years, reduced to 15 months' jail suspended for three years by a Court of Appeal.

The court reconfirmed an original 2008 sentence by the Court of Magistrates that found Lowell guilty of incitement to racial hatred. The Appeals Court said that the original decision had confirmed the mere "possibility" of incitement to racial hatred, so it upheld the original conviction.

Instead it reduced the prison sentence and removed a €500 fine after finding that another charge - that of offending the office of the President of Malta - had not been proven.

The Court said that Lowell had been warned of the serious consequences that relapsing could have.