Two Somali men sentenced to four years in jail for sexual assault, but who had spent six years awaiting trial, have asked a court for compensation over the length of time it took for their case to be concluded.

They had spent an extra two-and-a-half years in prison and had waited an unreasonable amount of time for justice to be served

Omar Osman and Anwar Otman Hasan were among a group of four charged with the rape of a Maltese woman.

They were arraigned and remanded in custody in 2007 and were denied bail for nearly three years.

Bail was finally granted in 2009 against a bond of €6,000 which, however, was still beyond their means and they remained behind bars.

Over the years their lawyer made several requests for the bail bond to be reduced but they were all turned down.

Finally, in 2012, Mr Osman’s bail was reduced to €4,000 and he was released after two Englishmen paid the deposit. He was back in prison after a month however, when he failed to adhere to the strict bail conditions.

Last November, the two men were finally sentenced to four years in jail for holding the woman against her will and violently, indecently assaulting her – only to be released on time served.

In their constitutional application, Mr Osman and Mr Hasan said they had spent an extra two-and-a-half years in prison and had waited an unreasonable amount of time for justice to be served.

They said that following the compilation of evidence during their six year wait, the proceedings before the Criminal Court – a trial by Bench before Mr Justice Michael Mallia – took just four days to conclude. This proved there had been an exaggerated delay in the case. The men asked the Constitutional Court to declare that their fundamental human rights had been breached and for a remedy to be given in the form of monetary compensation.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto and Kris Scicluna appeared for the men.