The former husband of the woman who was yesterday granted a Presidential pardon after she was jailed for not allowing him access to their son has said he was “disgusted” and “deeply hurt” by the way things unfolded.

The 57-year-old woman walked out of jail at around 6.30 p.m. yesterday after she was granted a Presidential pardon. Before granting the pardon, President George Abela spoke to the woman’s son, who is now almost 18.

But the father said 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 the story had been twisted and he insisted that his wife never wanted to allow his son to see him at his own leisure. The public just took the side of the mother without stopping to listen to him, he said.

“They did not delve deeply 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 his estranged wife 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.

But the woman thought otherwise and felt that “the truth has come out”. She told journalists as she walked out of jail that she was looking forward to going back home and resuming her normal life as she had done nothing wrong.

Sshe thanked the public for their support that led to her 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.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.