Two on sex-related charges

A 17-year-old and a 43-year-old Latvian man who works in Malta were arraigned on sex-related charges in two separate cases involving Swedish students.

The 17-year-old, from Sliema, was charged with offending public morals when he tried to strip a 15-year-old Swedish girl of her swimsuit at Ghadira, in Mellieha on Sunday afternoon.

The youngster, whose name cannot be published in view of his age, was granted bail by Magistrate Abigail Lofaro against a deposit of Lm100 and a personal guarantee of Lm3,000.

The Latvian, Viktors Barilaks, was accused of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old Swedish student at St George's park in Paceville at about midnight of the same day.

The girl, who was expected to leave Malta yesterday, told the court that the man had approached her from the back and groped her indecently, telling her that he could do as he pleased with her.

As the interpreter translated the girl's testimony, the man shook his head in disapproval.

But the girl went on, saying that he was with friends and that they seemed drunk.

When questioned by the prosecution and eventually the accused's lawyers, she broke down in tears saying she just wanted to go home and that she "didn't want to be in this country anymore."

Magistrate Lofaro denied the man bail, saying she wanted to speak to his employers first to make sure that he would not leave the island.

Mr Barilaks's lawyer said the man has a fixed-term contract with Skanska and that he had every intention of honouring it.