A mother has been jailed for three months after an Appeals Court upheld a decision of the Magistrates' Court, convicting her of having failed to give her estranged husband access to his son.

The son was almost 17 when the case happened, and he is now 18.

The woman pleaded in court that her son did not wish to meet his father and she could not make him.

In her appeal, the woman argued that the Magistrate's court had not made a distinction between a five-year-old and a 16-year-old who was in sixth form and wished to continue studying instead of seeing his father, with whom he did not have good relations.

The Appeals Court said that the court could not exclude that the woman was using every occasion and excuse for the son not to see him.

Mr Justice Mallia added, however, that it was shameful that a separation which started in 1994 was only finalised in 2007 and since then the problems had not stopped and continued until the son was 18, when he could take his own decisions. He described both parents as irresponsible and immature for having allowed this issue to drag out and letting their personal emotions take over. One would see whether this would impact on their son in the future.

During the proceedings the father had complained about the wife not giving him access to his son, in one case for six months. The woman said he had sometimes kept his son for longer than agreed.