Bail for woman ‘on society’s fringes’

A convicted prostitute, the mother of a pregnant 15-year-old girl charged with attempted murder, was yesterday charged with escaping from police custody and breaching bail conditions on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old woman from Valletta yesterday stood in the dock teary eyed and pleaded not guilty to swearing in public and escaping.

Defence lawyer José Herrera painted a sad picture of a “woman living on the fringes of society” and said she has had a hard life trying to bring up a daughter who herself hasn’t had the best start.

However, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli threw a dose of reality into the mix and said that she was not quite helping herself with the way she earned her money.

The magistrate said the woman had appeared before her a number of times.

Police Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Anne Marie Micallef told the court they were opposing bail due to the untrustworthiness of the accused. Dr Herrera said this was a case where the only evidence was the police officers’ testimony so tampering with the evidence was unlikely.

Magistrate Demicoli granted her bail against a personal guarantee of €1,500.

The woman’s daughter and two nieces stand charged with seriously injuring a 14-year-old girl while her daughter alone stands charged with the victim’s attempt murder.

The victim was stabbed in an argument with the woman’s daughter after the latter accused her of sleeping with the father of her child.