A woman who found herself "locked" in a man's apartment after a drunken "night out turned sour" was given a suspended sentence after claiming she had been kidnapped.

The woman, whose name and details cannot be published by court order, pleaded guilty to filing a false police report and being drunk in a public place.

It appears she had an argument with her Maltese boyfriend in the early hours of yesterday morning and retaliated by drunkenly flirting with two Libyan men in Spinola Bay. She was spotted by a police officer on patrol, who asked whether she needed any help. She insisted she was fine.

She subsequently hopped into a car with one of the men and spent the night at his Msida apartment. Upon waking up, dazed and confused, she realised that the man had left the apartment and locked it from the outside.

In a panic, the woman called neighbours and phoned her friend and the police. The landlord was called and opened the apartment door.

In an effort to save face, she told the police she had been kidnapped and embellished her story by stating she had had a plastic bag thrown over her head and that she had been punched. However, the police officer with whom she filed the report recognised her.

Prosecuting officer Trevor Micallef called for a suspended sentence since the Libyan man was kept under arrest for eight hours as a result of her actions.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard how the police had found naked pictures on his mobile phone, taken in a way which implied that she was clearly posing and that the sexual activity was consensual.

Describing the case as a "night turned sour", lawyer Francois Dalli argued that the accused had merely panicked after finding herself locked in and meant no harm.

Noting that she had no prior run-ins with the police, he appealed for an alternative form of punishment.

The court sentenced her to a one-month jail term suspended for one year.