Two women in their early 20s yesterday admitted prostituting themselves and asked the court to help them overcome their drug addiction by sending them to rehabilitation.
Josette Galea, 24, of Floriana and April Farrugia, 25, from Gżira admitted loitering for prostitution purposes in Gżira and Marsa.
“Don’t send me to jail. I’ll end up worse off,” Ms Galea begged Magistrate Charmaine Galea just before she was put on probation for three years.
Ms Farrugia, who has a nine-year-old child, said she had been waiting for three months to start rehab.
The magistrate ordered that a pre-sentencing report be drawn up and put off the case to October 7 for judgment.
They were among nine women who were yesterday charged with loitering for prostitution purposes following police patrols in Marsa and Gżira on Sunday night.
The prosecution, led by police inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Sylvana Briffa, said all women were “known to the police” in terms of prostitution.
Before their arrest on Sunday, the women had been warned several times to get off the streets. Condoms and cash were found in the possession of most of those arrested.
Anne Maria Bonello, 39, from Valletta, was the only one to be sentenced to jail – two months – for loitering, breaching a probation order and relapsing.
The court noted she had 47 previous convictions connected to loitering.
Ritienne Cardona, 42, from Floriana, and Mary Louise Magro, 28, from Gżira, were conditionally discharged for six months since this was their first brush with the law.
“The court is giving you the opportunity to change your life. The key is in your hands,” Magistrate Galea told Ms Cardona.
The court is giving you the opportunity to change your life
She was arrested close to a room in Marsa, where she had her belongings.
Inside the “run-down” room was a mattress and four candles. The door did not have a lock.
Ms Cardona told the police she had been prostituting herself for three years to earn a living. She owed about €10,000 to several people and, when asked if she planned to stop, she replied: “Debts have to get paid.”
Diane Celeste, 42, of Ħamrun pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged for a year for loitering in Marsa and relapsing.
Judith Bakoush, 23, of Valletta – who is pregnant – and Joyce Bugeja, 45, from San Ġwann, were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Gianella Okeakpci, 26, of St Paul’s Bay pleaded not guilty to loitering in Gżira and resisting arrest when she refused to get into a police car, relapsing and committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended jail term. She was remanded in custody.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Renzo Porsella Flores appeared for the accused.