A man has been cleared of raping his wife almost 10 years ago after a court doubted the woman’s version of events and ruled that the prosecution had not managed to prove its case.

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia found Anthony Cremona, 43, of Valletta, not guilty of raping his wife, Denise, in October 2005 at her flat in Msida.

The court heard how the woman and her three children aged 11, 10 and three went to a bar in Gżira on October 23, where they met Mr Cremona. The couple had been separated for around two years. He tried to hug her but she told him to let her be.

Ms Cremona left the bar and went home. Four hours later, at 11.30pm, Mr Cremona turned up at her house and she let him in. The children were all asleep at the time. They started talking in the kitchen and she went to the bedroom where the youngest child was asleep.

Mr Cremona followed her into the bedroom, dropped his clothes, forcibly removed hers and the two had intercourse.

In his statement to the police, Mr Cremona admitted to having sex with his estranged wife but insisted that he stopped when she told him to.

This corroborated the version given by the woman in court. He also said he was sorry for what he had done.

The woman said she tried resisting him but could not manage. She also said he pinned her to the bed and didn’t let her move.

But in analysing her version, the court said it could not understand how the woman opened the door when she is claiming to have been raped the previous month.

The court also could not understand why the woman went to the bedroom when it was “obvious” that her ex-husband would follow her, especially after having turned up at her doorstep at 11.30pm, claiming he wanted to see the children he had seen at the bar a few hours earlier.

“Especially if she had allegedly been raped a month before, Ms Cremona should have been suspicious of her husband’s behaviour and could have easily asked him to leave and call for help. But instead, she went to the bedroom when it was obvious he would have followed her,” the court said.

The court noted that from photographs presented in court, no struggle seemed to have taken place in the bedroom and neither did it result that any of the children was woken up.

It was obvious her ex-husband would follow her to the bedroom

Gynaecologist Ivan Galea, an expert who examined Ms Cremona, found small fresh bruises on her arms that could have been caused by a strong finger grip but found no injuries on her genitalia, as is usually found in rape cases. The court said the “superficial” injuries were not compatible to the violent rape described by the alleged victim.

Magistrate Farrugia also considered the fact that the woman had wanted to drop the criminal charges against her husband but then had a change of heart. She later had yet another change of heart and told the court she had forgiven him as he was the father of her children.

In light of the inconsistencies in her version and medical evidence, the magistrate ruled that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt according to law.

Police superintendent Stephen Gatt and Inspector Sandra Zammit prosecuted while lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili appeared for the man.