A mother who abandoned her new-born child on a doorstep in Buġibba last September had done so in the child’s best interests, court experts have concluded.

After having told no one that she was pregnant, not even her partner, the 22-year-old did what she thought was best for the baby, the experts believe. As a result of this conclusion, Magistrate Joe Mifsud ruled that no criminal action ought to be taken against her.

The building in Pioneer Road where the baby was abandoned.

Had she been convicted of abandoning her baby, the woman would have faced a term in prison of between seven months and a year.

The newborn, who Magistrate Mifsud has named Cristiano after international football star Cristiano Ronaldo, is living with the Ursuline Sisters’ crèche in Sliema, along with his one-year-old brother.

The magistrate last week concluded his inquiry and sent it to the Attorney General’s office, the police and Appoġġ, to follow the plan of action that court experts recommended for the baby’s mother.

Cristiano was only a few hours old when he was abandoned on the porch of a block of apartments in Pioneer Road on September 7. The court heard how the baby was born at home without any medical assistance and the umbilical cord was found freshly cut and tied with a string.

The woman told court experts that no one knew of her pregnancy and that she had been concealing it by saying that she was putting on weight.

Soon after giving birth, she washed the baby, dressed it in a yellow baby-grow, wrapped him in a shirt and placed him in the first safe place she found.

Psychiatric and psychological experts told the court that the woman had not bonded at all with the baby during her pregnancy, especially because her partner told her that were she pregnant, the baby was not his. DNA tests, however, confirmed that he was Cristiano’s biological father.

The woman told the experts she was in a traumatic relationship and her financial situation was not a happy one. She wanted her second son to be brought up in a better environment. Throughout her pregnancy, she had been planning to give her son to the nuns at the Crèche.

She also told experts that on the morning of the birth, she had had an argument with her partner who punched her in the eye. Magistrate Mifsud ordered the police to investigate the partner over this incident and take any criminal action deemed fit.

According to the experts, the mother ought to be given treatment and support to be able to overcome her mental health problems and take full responsibility for her two children. They also recommended that the boy’s father is given access to his two children.

The court has ordered the ban on the publication of the woman’s name as well as the names of any other relatives.