Christina Betke was in court for dancing in a bikini at a band march. Photo: Facebook

Buy it, wear it, take a picture in it, post it on Facebook and help charity – that is what Christina Betke is urging people to do with the T-shirt she designed after she was taken to court for dancing in a bikini during the Sliema band march.

The T-shirt, that has the words ‘Dance like Christina Betke’ printed across it, depicts Ms Betke in her infamous black bikini superimposed over the Times of Malta front page that reported her court case last month.

The money she is making from the sale of the 100 T-shirts, that cost €12, will be donated to Stella Maris church in Sliema after she pledged she would use her talent as a fashion designer to raise funds for the church.

On August 25 Ms Betke, 28, was arraigned last month and pleaded guilty to disturbing a service of the Roman Catholic Church during the Stella Maris march.

The charge raised eyebrows among the legal community, with many claiming the police had acted “overzealously” and that Ms Betke should never have been taken to court.

Ms Betke, who works in Malta, explained that she had spent the day at a boat party. The trip ended at Sliema Ferries as the band happened to be passing by.

Ms Betke admitted she had had a few drinks – the same as everyone else on board – and was swept away by the jolly atmosphere. The swimwear frolic resulted in a two-year conditional discharge along with a €150 fine.

Ms Betke, from Germany, felt the legal action taken against her did not seem to match the offence but she accepted it nonetheless. She pledged to dedicate a number of fashion designs to the Stella Maris church, and would donate the proceeds of their sale to the church in a gesture of goodwill.

Last week she started advertising the sale of the T-shirts, also available at the Bavarian Sausage stand in Sliema, on Facebook.

Since then a handful of people uploaded photos of themselves wearing it and she even got orders from Germany.

But, she is not happy with the results and is calling on all those people who commented favourably about her story to buy a T-shirt for charity.

“You can’t dance in a bikini, but you can dance in the T-shirt,” she said.