A young mother with a serious drug problem has been cleared of stealing funds from her grandmother’s bank account for lack of evidence. 

The 21-year old was accused of theft after relatives had reported that her grandmother that only €5 remained out of €800 credited to her account some three days previously.

The grandmother suspected that her granddaughter had pinched her credit card, along with the account PIN number, from her handbag, while the two were out shopping.

The young woman's mother had also suspected her daughter’s hand in the theft, telling police that her suspicion was roused when told by the bank that the funds had been withdrawn in Hamrun, the locality where the accused was staying at the time.

The €800 had been deposited on October 2 and by October 5 had been withdrawn in ten transactions, leaving a balance of €5. 

The court, after analyzing the evidence, including the testimony by the accused’s grandmother and mother, said it was “not at all convinced” of the woman’s guilt.

The accused’s mother had stated that her suspicions were based on the fact that her daughter was living at Hamrun, the place where the bank withdrawals were effected, while the grandmother had told the court that she suspected that her granddaughter stole the money, but she did not know exactly what she did.

The court said these were mere assumptions and suppositions which had not been corroborated and confirmed.

No CCTV footage from the ATM sites had been produced as evidence, nor any proof that the accused had actually been living in the locality at the time of the suspect withdrawals. 

The allegations had likely stemmed from an “unhappy and precarious” family situation resulting in an attempt to make the young drug-addict seek help, the court observed, given that the relative social agencies could only intervene when the person voluntarily sought help, unless they were called in by the courts in the course of judicial proceedings.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella concluded that the allegations had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, thereby clearing the accused.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.

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