Mother given one last chance

A mother charged with abandoning and neglecting her six-year-old daughter yesterday had a Lm500 personal guarantee added to her bail conditions after she failed to sign at her local police station daily.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera made it clear that she was giving the woman, whose name cannot be published by court order, one last chance to abide by the bail conditions and if she failed once more she would be placed in preventive custody.

On October 22 the Police Commissioner filed an application in which he informed the court that the woman was not honouring her bail conditions which laid down that she was to sign daily at the Birkirkara police station.

During a court sitting on Monday the magistrate heard Police Inspector Joseph Mercieca explain that, in light of this, the woman had been arrested on Sunday.

The day after the sitting the woman was called to the witness stand and explained that she had failed to sign at her local police station because two of her children were ill and she could not leave the house.

The magistrate appointed Dr Victor Calvagna to visit the children. The doctor concluded that the children were not sick.

The magistrate felt that the woman had failed to sign out of negligence and this could not be tolerated. However, in light of the circumstances of the case she did not order the woman's arrest and made it clear that if the woman failed to honour the conditions, even for a day, there would be no more clemency.