A woman has been cleared of smuggling heroin hidden in a quilt she was delivering to her former partner who was a prison inmate.

Maria Grech, 57, from Cospicua, managed to convince the court that she did not know that the quilt, given to her by her partner’s mother, contained drugs.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras heard how Ms Grech had received the quilt from Anna Grima, the mother of her partner she was going to visit in jail.

The drugs were discovered in the quilt by a sniffer dog after a second search and after prison warders noted that the seams on the quilt where the drugs were hidden were different from those on the rest of the quilt.

Ms Grech told the court that the mother had asked her to take a number of items to her son Alan Grima on 22 December 2006. These included the quilt, a pair of socks and a pair of jeans. She told her to deliver the items herself as her husband’s car had broken down.

Ms Grima admitted giving the quilt to Ms Grech but denied hiding any drugs in it.

Ms Grech told the court he did not know that the drug were hidden inside the quilt. She had been in a relationship with Mr Grima for several months but broke it off when she was jailed after she was caught stealing to fund his drug habit.

Prison warders who testified in court said that the prisoner was unusually anxious to get his hands on the quilt. Even other prisoners seemed to want to get their hands on the quilt.

The court heard how Ms Grech picked up the quilt at around 9.30am and arrived at the Corradino Correctional Facility at 10am.

Magistrate Galea Sciberras ruled that the tight timeframe made it impossible for her to hide the drugs and sew the quilt back together.

The court said that Ms Grech was always consistent in denying any knowledge about the drugs and her testimony was credible and consistent.

She was therefore cleared of all charges.

Assistant Commissioner Dennis Theuma prosecuted while lawyers Ludvic Caruana and Annalisa Debono appeared for the woman.