Prostitute spared jail time by Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal yesterday changed a prostitute’s jail term judgment into a suspended sentence.

The accused, whose name cannot be made public by order of the court, had been charged with loitering for prostitution or for conducting immoral acts. Back in May 2015, the Court of Magistrates had sentenced the 32-year-old woman to three years behind bars.

The court had heard how on September 2007, the woman was arrested for loitering in the Marsa area. She was also accused, together with an accomplice, of threatening a man, allegedly a client, by making him believe that he impregnated her. The court heard how the man had paid the prostitute and her accomplice because he was made to believe that the woman wanted to get rid of the baby through abortion and that she had to buy medicines to treat an infection.

The court had heard how the prostitute and her client had sex in his car in an abandoned place, with the prostitute claiming that the condom had burst. She then claimed she was only 17 and told him that she needed some €1,165 to have an abortion. The woman told the client she was going to get her ‘husband’ who, it transpired, was her pimp.

The latter came along carrying a stone in his hand and demanded money from the client. The victim was carrying some €450, which he handed over to the man. The two accompanied the victim to an ATM to withdraw a further €233 (Lm100).

The couple was not satisfied with the amount of cash the victim had handed over and on 7 September, 2007, the woman waited for the victim outside the factory where he worked and told him that she needed to have an abortion. He gave her a another €260.

That same evening, the woman called the client on his mobile phone and demanded more cash. The victim told the court that he could hear a man’s voice in the background uttering the words: “Don’t try pull any stunts because I’ll set your car alight.” Out of fear, the victim met the two, including another man who claimed to be the woman’s father, and handed over some €120 to the three persons.

When he returned home, the victim told his parents what he had been through.

The next day, on 8 September, the prostitute called him again and this time claimed that she had a urine infection, demanding more cash for her medicines.

After that day, the two stopped stalking him for money. In total, the victim was extorted some €2,450 (Lm1068).

The accused and the accomplice, a 43-year-old man, were both sentenced to three years in prison after they were found guilty of extortion and relapsing.

Now, Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, presiding over the appeal case, noted that the evidence brought forward by the prosecution did not prove that the woman had threatened the client. “It is clear that the client paid the money because he was afraid of the accomplice, not the prostitute.”

The court also noted that since the time when the incident allegedly happened, the accused has reformed and is no longer dependent on drugs. She is also no longer a sex worker.

In view of these factors, the court changed the prison term into a two-year sentence, which was suspended for four years.