A judge has overturned an eight-month prison sentence handed to a woman for falsely reporting that another woman beat her daughter.

The judge ruled that the first court had relied on a court expert who reached the wrong conclusions.

Francine Cini was charged after she reported that her ex's girlfriend had slapped her daughter for kicking up a fuss over a tablet computer. 

Her daughters had told her about the incident, Ms Cini had told the police, and she believed them since "they only told small lies". 

She was found guilty of filing a false report by a Magistrates’ Court in Gozo and appealed the conviction, arguing that there had been a procedural defect, a wrong interpretation of facts, a wrong application of law and also that the punishment was excessive.

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, found that the facts of the case could have amounted to fabrication of false evidence, as the woman had apparently instigated her young daughter to confirm what she reported to the police. 

However, the first court had acquitted Ms Cini of that first charge, instead finding her guilty of a second one. 

The court also noted that an expert appointed by the Magistrates’ Court to gather the testimony of witnesses had presented his report without a proper chronological sequence, making it hard to interpret, whilst concluding that the facts amounted to simulation.

The court upheld the argument that there had been a wrong appreciation of law by the court-appointed expert, overturning the conviction and clearing the woman of all charges. 

Lawyer Joe Giglio assisted the accused at the appeal stage.