A mother of a six-month-old baby was baffled and frustrated when warned that failing to testify could result in her being arrested but was not allowed to step inside the court with her baby.
Claire Palmer, a Maltese national but whose family lives abroad, is a single mother and unemployed. She said she had no one to leave her son, Jamie, with on the day of her court appearance.
It was a Friday when the 28-year-old received a witness summons for the following Tuesday.
“It came completely out of the blue. I didn’t really want to testify but you naturally don’t get a choice in such a matter. In fact, I was informed by the policeman who handed me the summons that failing to appear before the court could result in a fine or even being arrested,” she said.
Ms Palmer, who lives alone, said she could not afford a nanny or a babysitter to leave her son with. “I usually rely on friends and the baby’s father when I need a babysitter. However, there was nobody able to help on the day at such short notice. I genuinely had no one to leave Jamie with.”
Ms Palmer turned up in court at 9am with her baby son. However, the security officer refused her entry, telling her that no children were allowed in court.
“I explained my situation to her, highlighting the fact that I was told there were consequences for failing to turn up. But she just shrugged, as if saying ‘it’s your problem’ and returned to her conversation, ignoring me completely.
“At that point, I really started to panic.” She frantically phoned her son’s father. Luckily, he happened to be working in Valletta at the time and was able to keep Jamie for a few hours.
“I was really lucky that he happened to be in Valletta because he very rarely visits the capital as part of his work. If he hadn’t been able to keep Jamie for a while, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Ms Palmer waited at court for three hours, only for the sitting to be put off till March.
“But it’s different now because I know beforehand when the sitting will be held.
“I wish they had a facility where children can be kept while the parent goes in to testify. Being rudely told it was my problem was highly out of order and I think this ridiculous law needs to be revised.”