A woman who sent a friend’s baby to be DNA tested instead of her own in a paternity suit said today that she had done so because she was abused by a member of her partner’s family.

The issue revolves around the former partner's insistence that the woman's baby should not have been registered as having an 'unknown father' because he was her father and he was seeking paternity rights.

When the court ordered DNA tests, the woman sent a friend's baby for the tests. Although the result did not show the man as being the father, the man still stood by his case and insisted that the mother herself should be tested to see if her own DNA matched that of the tested baby.

The woman then convinced the baby's mother to go for the test instead of her. But officials raised the alarm when they noticed that the friend's signature was different from that of the woman who should have called.

The woman was charged in court today with making a false declaration.

Police Inspector Kylie Borg said that during the interrogation the woman admitted sending the friend and her baby for the DNA tests. She said proper tests had since been carried out and the man had been confirmed as the baby's father.

She said that while the woman had claimed sexual abuse by a relative of her then partner, no such reports had been made to the police.

Lawyers Michael Tanti Dougall is defence counsel. Dr Ludvig Caruana is counsel to the father.