Carrying a large clothes-filled plastic bag, the mother imprisoned for not allowing her ex-husband access to their son walked out of jail yesterday evening after she was granted a Presidential pardon.

“Had I not come out today it would have been another 41 days in there… I still can’t believe what happened to me… It was a terrible experience,” the 57-year-old said soon after emerging through the large metal door of the Corradino Correctional Facility in Paola.

She walked out at about 6.30pm, as it started to drizzle, after President George Abela issued his decree following the recommendation of Cabinet and the Attorney General.

The President also spoke to the woman’s son, who is now almost 18, before making up his mind.

On hearing about the Presidential pardon the woman’s ex-husband said he was “disgusted” and “deeply hurt” by the way things had unfolded.

He was never spoken to by the President or Cabinet and the public campaign to free his wife had completely ignored his side of the story, he said.

But the woman thought otherwise and felt that “the truth has come out”. Speaking to the journalists who surrounded her, as she waited for her sister to pick her up, she said she was looking forward to going back home and resuming her normal life as she had done nothing wrong.

She told journalists she wanted her identity to remain unknown, in the interest of her son, but it was pointed out that a statement issued by the President’s office, stating that the pardon had been granted, mentioned her and her son by name.

Looking distracted by the cameras she thanked the public for their support that led to an early release and said she hoped the courts would listen to children more.

The woman, who teaches at a Government school, had been behind bars since September 27 when the Court of Appeal upheld a magistrate’s decision jailing her for three months for failing to give her ex-husband access on 13 occasions.

During the appeal she had insisted that she never told her son, who was then 16, not to spend time with her father. He was old enough to make a decision.

Speaking to The Times shortly after the judgment, the boy said his mother never forced him not to go to this father and she did not deserve to be jailed for three months – the maximum punishment.

The story led to a huge public outcry with the public joining forces, through a petition, to ask that she be granted a Presidential Pardon.

A night vigil was also held outside prison last Wednesday, the day before the woman filed a request for a pardon through her lawyer Ludvic Caruana. The popular television talk show Xarabank, that followed up on The Times’ story, started a Facebook page asking for her release. The public also called on the authorities to ensure the woman did not lose her job. Yesterday, the woman said she hated the experience of jail but found strength in a prison guard, Number 6, who was of great support. She also had great support from the other inmates.

“I just want to move on with my life and forget all this now. And I want to forgive,” she said.

Her ex-husband, who watched the situation unfold, believes all this is unfair as the story had been “twisted”.

He insisted that his wife never wanted to allow his son to see him at his own leisure – but the public just took the side of the mother without stopping to listen to him. “They did not delve deep into the case… They did not want to hear my side of the story… I spent 18 years fighting in court. She goes to Xarabank and all is forgotten. I’ve lost faith in the courts… what weight do they have if a programme can overturn their decision,” he asked.

He said he did not want her in jail but there had to be some form of punishment for someone who disobeyed the court and refused to give him access to his son.

He said he had a good relationship with the boy and recently they had gone shopping together for a new bedroom for him at his house.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Malta Union of Teachers called on the authorities to “take into account the spirit of the discussions and reinstate the employee concerned at the earliest practicable time”.

The National Council of Women welcomed the pardon, adding it had sent a written petition requesting the President to consider the negative consequences of the sentence and the suffering that all three members of the family were going through.

“This case should be a lesson to us all: that although justice is adminis-tered it does not always guarantee thatright prevails, and that an act of forgive-ness is indeed more noble,” the council said.