A spurned woman inflicted wounds on herself in an imagined story about her former boyfriend breaking into her home and beating her up.

But she was yesterday cleared of filing a false police report after a court heard that the woman suffers from a rare psychological illness known as Factitious Dis­order, in which patients imagine that something has happened and convince themselves of it.

As a result of the disorder, the criminal intent – the crucial element in criminal proceedings – was missing, the court ruled.

The woman, who cannot be named by court order, was accused of falsely reporting a crime to the police with the intention of getting her revenge on the man she loved after he broke off their relationship.

She was further accused of creating traces of the supposed crime to give the impression it had taken place.

Police Inspector Joseph Mercieca told Magistrate Miriam Hayman that it became evident early in the investigation that there was no truth to the story.

When questioned by the police, the 20-year-old woman said her former boyfriend had driven her crazy. Despite being very possessive and sometimes even violent, however, he meant the world to her.

She denied wanting to get back at him but admitted to self-inflicting her wounds.

“I cannot say it was a mistake because my mind saw him doing this to me,” she told the inspector.

Psychologist Peter Muscat, appointed as part of the magisterial inquiry, examined the woman and found her to be lucid and with no signs of depression, psychosis or other mental health problems.

But another psychologist, Joseph Spiteri, appointed during the case, diagnosed the woman with Factitious Disorder, saying she took decisions subconsciously.

Magistrate Hayman ruled that, while the court had no doubt that the crime she had reported to the police was completely made up, the intent to commit a crime was not present.

She recommended that the woman continue her course of medication.

Police Inspector Joseph Mercieca prosecuted while lawyers Michael and Lucia Sciriha appeared for the woman.