A young Nigerian woman who entered Malta illegally yesterday told a court how two men provided her and her cousin with false passports to travel to Italy.

The pregnant 16-year-old explained how Nigerian Philip Nicholas Ahmed had made arrangements with a man in Italy to provide them with the fake documents.

However, when the cousins tried to leave the island last Thursday, they were apprehended by police.

The girl took the witness stand, before Magistrate Doreen Clarke, during the arraignment of Mr Ahmed, 26, who yesterday pleaded not guilty to human trafficking, tampering with passports and forgery. In her testimony, the girl, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, explained that she and her 18-year-old cousin arrived in Malta illegally on a boat last December.

After spending a month in a detention centre they were moved to the Hal Far open centre because they were both pregnant.

That is where Mr Ahmed asked them if they wanted to go to Italy.

He also invited them to move in with him at his Bugibba apartment where he took photos of the girls explaining that he would post them to Italy. He also said a man called Prince would come for them, the girl said.

On Thursday Prince turned up at the apartment and the two women caught a bus with him to the airport. Once there Prince gave them passports bearing their photos.

However, police stopped them as they tried to leave the island.

On Friday Prince Kwadwo Mensah, 18, from Ghana, was jailed for seven months after he admitted to human trafficking and forging an Italian residence permit.

Both girls pleaded guilty to using false passports. The 18-year-old was sentenced to seven months imprisonment suspended for one year and the 16-year-old was given a one-year jail term suspended for 12 months.

Mr Ahmed, an illegal immigrant who is contesting the charges, was remanded in police custody.

Police Inspector Joseph Hersey prosecuted. Lawyer Renzo Porsella Flores represented the accused.