A woman who hit her nine-year-old “naughty girl” in the face with a broomstick because she did not clean the house properly 12 years ago had a two-year suspended jail term confirmed on appeal.

A judge threw out the appeal filed by the mother who claimed that the first court had misread the facts and that her daughter was “a naughty girl” who was acting out because her parents were going through a rough patch.

“The evidence does not indicate that the girl was naughty. She behaved like any other girl her age but with a difference… [her mother] expected a nine-year-old girl to clean the entire house,” Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, commented.

In the circumstances, the first court had been lenient with the mother when handing down the original judgment though that was very likely because many years had passed since the incident that happened in July 2002, the judge said.

In fact, he noted, the girl was now a 21-year-old woman who had her own child.

Last October, the Magistrates’ Court found the woman guilty of seriously injuring her daughter when she hit her with the broomstick on July 24, 2002. The mother was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years.

The woman, now 42, appealed, claiming that the magistrate had wrongly interpreted the evidence and ignored the fact that the girl, who had been hit on her eyelid, had changed her version of events.

At the time of the incident, the girl said her mother hit her with the broomstick but some years later she said that her brother had hit her. According to the mother, this inconsistency meant that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The Attorney General had pointed out that the court had other evidence to back up its decision. Neighbours, doctors, social workers and psychologists spoke about various incidents of abuse. Injuries and old bruises on the girl suggested that her mother had “a punitive system of conduct” towards her.

After evaluating the evidence, the appeal court felt that the first court’s line of reasoning was correct and, if anything, it had been lenient with the mother.

Names are not being published to protect the identity of the daughter.