An appeals court has cleared a man of charges of violent indecent assault on a young mother after a court deemed her version of events as not credible.

The 60-year old father from San Ġwann was arraigned after his neighbour told the police that she had been groped by him when she had followed her 4-year old son into his garage.

The alleged incident took place in March 2012 when the woman’s son spotted the man and ran over to him shouting “Boat, boat, boat,” indicating a boat near the neighbour’s garage.

The man had lifted the child into the boat and had subsequently carried him into the garage to see his caged owl.

The mother said she had followed her child into the garage where the owner, still carrying the boy on his arm, had allegedly pushed her against a wall, slipping a hand under her top and groping her.

As the woman attempted to pull back, the man had allegedly warned her not to tell the police, threatening her “to do worse,” and take away her child.

Three days later, the woman filed a report at the local police station, accompanied by her mother who had urged her to take action.

The suspect molester denied any wrongdoing and gave his account of the meeting with the woman and her son who apparently held a ‘soft spot’ for the man.

The man was accused of violent indecent assault and with having slightly injured the alleged victim who had been certified as bearing two fresh bruises, some 2 centimeters in size, on her breasts when she was examined by a doctor three days after the alleged episode.

The man was convicted in December 2015 and handed a 9-month jail term suspended for 3 years, prompting him to file an appeal, protesting his innocence.

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, observed that according to the evidence, throughout the alleged incident the accused had been carrying the 4-year boy on his arm.

This scenario, together with other evidence, made the woman’s version rather unlikely since it was “inconceivable” that a man, carrying such a load, could have groped the woman.

Moreover, the bruises on the woman’s body had been certified as “fresh” three days after the incident. The doctor who had examined her had testified that the woman had claimed to have been beaten, but that she recalled nothing else.

The accused’s son and a friend who had happened to be outside the garage at the time of the alleged aggression had also testified as to how the woman had chatted to them after leaving the garage. She had appeared to be “normal” and spoke of her desire to find a suitable partner.

A psychiatrist had also testified how the alleged victim had been a patient of his for three years before the incident, needing treatment for depression.

The first court had pinned guilt on the basis of the presence of the bruises on the woman’s breasts, but these did not suffice to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the court of appeal observed.

The judge also observed that the woman had added allegations as she told her story over and over, until she finally alleged that the accused had even demanded sex - a fact not corroborated by any other witness.

Nor had there been any evidence of crying or shouting by the child throughout the alleged ordeal, the court observed.

In the light of all this, the court declared that the woman was not credible and that the conclusion by the first court had not been “safe and satisfactory,” thereby upholding the appeal and pronouncing an acquittal.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo were defence counsel.