Justice was finally meted out to four illegal immigrants who have been in prison for nearly six years, after they were convicted over their involvement in the gang rape of a Maltese woman.

The compilation of evidence and trial were heard behind closed doors

Among them is Somali Omar Osman, 31, who was in the headlines when the bail bond he could not afford was guaranteed by two Englishmen who took pity on him as he languished in jail waiting for the court case to be concluded.

Mr Osman, who has always insisted he was trying to prevent the rape and not take part in it, ended up back behind bars last June when he breached bail conditions.

The four accused were taken into custody in 2007 after the woman, who cannot be named by court order, alleged to have been gang raped by four men at the Marsa Open Centre in the early hours of March 19 of that year.

Yesterday, Mr Omar and fellow Somali Anwar Otman Hasan, 31, were handed a four-year prison sentence for holding the woman against her will and violently, indecently assaulting her.

Abubaker Ahmed Abdilrahman, 22, also Somali, was jailed for five years on similar charges.

But they walked from the court as free men after having spent far longer than that in custody.

Only Sudanese Muhammed Ali Hasan, 31, is still in prison after being found guilty of the rape and jailed for 11 years at the end of a trial presided over by Mr Justice Michael Mallia.

The compilation of evidence and trial were heard behind closed doors.

The judgment delivered by Mr Justice Mallia revealed details of what happened on the day and the evidence linking the men to the crime.

On March 18 at 1pm, the victim had met a friend named as Hakim at Diana Kiosk at the Valletta bus terminus, where they stayed till around 8pm.

The woman complained of a toothache and Hakim invited her to go to the Marsa Open Centre with him because he had pills she could take and all the pharmacies were closed.

When they got to the Open Centre she took the pain killers and suggested that before she went home they should both go for a drink at the Tiger Bar nearby.

At 2am the barman said he was going to close shop and because there were no buses at that time of night and she had no money for a taxi, Hakim suggested she spend the night in his room. He added he would sleep on a mattress outside.

Hakim was then approached by Mr Abdilrahman, who was holding a bottle of wine, by Mr Hasan holding a knife, and another man who has remained unidentified during the case.

Mr Abdilrahman told Hakim that when he had finished with her he would have his turn, but Hakim told him to leave her alone as she was not a prostitute.

Afraid, Hakim left and on returning found all the accused pulling the woman out of the room and trying to take her away.

He ran to alert the soldier at the main gate and when they arrived they found Mr Hasan in a sexual encounter with the woman.

When Mr Hasan realised that Hakim and the soldier were there, he ran away, leaving behind his white shirt.

In her testimony, the woman said that although she was heavily drunk, she was so shocked at what was happening to her that she did not look at the faces of the people raping her.

In another part of her testimony, however, she said she recognised Mr Osman as having taken part in the sexual assault.

Mr Osman, the only accused to testify, denied he had raped her or was involved and said that he only tried to stop the men from hurting her because he was her friend.

Mr Justice Mallia ruled that only Mr Hasan could be directly connected to the rape after his shirt was found stained with her blood.

He found the others guilty of holding her against her will and of violent indecent assault.

Mr Abdilrahman and Mr Hasan were also convicted of stealing items from the open centre offices.