The mother of a three-month-old baby girl has been given a suspended jail term after admitting leaving the island illegally and making it to Denmark before being returned to Malta.

Jemila Nuru, 26, pleaded guilty to leaving the island without the necessary documentation last December.

Her lawyer, Alessandro Lia, argued that, by law, his client, who had a child, was exempt from such a charge, an interpretation Magistrate Anthony Vella disagreed with.

The magistrate asked how the courts could discriminate between a man and a woman on the basis that the woman had a child.The lawyer pointed out that she was the sole carer for the child and received money from no one.

Police Inspector Darren Buhagiar noted that she was married and had a husband who worked and earned a salary. To the sound of the baby crying in the corridor outside the courtroom, the magistrate sentenced her to six months in jail suspended for two years.