A mother, convicted of mistreating her two minor sons during an access visit in the course separation proceedings with the boys’ father, has been cleared on appeal.

The woman's ordeal began during a weekend in August 2017 when her sons, then aged 10 and 15, arrived at her home for the weekend stay which, however, degenerated into a chain of events that landed the mother under criminal prosecution. 

It apparently all began when the boys refused to take a shower after getting home from the beach, locking themselves inside their room, barricading the door with boxes and even refusing to eat or drink. 

The stalemate allegedly persisted overnight until the following morning the boys crept out of their room. 

What followed was allegedly a tumultuous series of attempts by the boys to get out of the house through the garage door, with the mother desperately trying to hold them back.

As she chased them around the house, the boys allegedly squirted shower gel on the stairs and sprayed deodorant in their mother’s face, while arming themselves with pipes to fence off her attempts.

They tried to unbolt the garage door several times while the woman struggled to push them back indoors, causing one of the boys to topple over.

The minors had even snatched her car keys, with one of the boys later explaining that they had intended to use those as “a bargaining chip” to get away and had sprayed deodorant, just like police used “pepper spray,” to escape from their mother.

Incidents captured on CCTV

The events were captured on CCTV footage which was subsequently presented as evidence in court, together with medical certificates attesting slight injuries suffered by the minors.

The boys’ father had subsequently filed a police report claiming that the mother had punished their sons by locking them inside all weekend, subjecting them to physical abuse.

Criminal action was instituted against the woman, resulting in a conviction and a two-month conditional discharge.

The woman filed an appeal, her lawyer arguing that the minors had behaved “like rascals rather than the lambs they had portrayed themselves out to be”. 

In a recent judgment, the Criminal Court of Appeal, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, observed that there were conflicting versions of the events.

Relying on footage showing the garage, inner corridor and stairs, the court observed that the boys did not appear to have been frightened of their mother, but had rather behaved in a provocative manner, while the woman “swam against the tide”.

The situation escalated as the boys tried to get out “at all costs,” reacting to their mother’s struggles in a manner that could have potentially harmed her, as they pushed a door against her, hit her and knocked her glasses. 

The visual evidence showed that although the woman might have applied excessive force, this was not intended to harm her sons but to stop them from running away during the access visit, the court observed.

Thus any injuries suffered by the boys were not proved to have been intentional, although the appellant ought to have called the police or Appoġġ rather than let the situation spiral out of control, the court said. 

The court sent out a strong message against parental alienation, whereby one parent incited the children against the other spouse, giving rise to the impression that one parent did everything right while the other got it all wrong. 

When this happened, minor children ended up as pawns between the warring couple, the court said, stressing that children were always to be safeguarded and that aggressive behaviour was never acceptable, whether by parents towards their offspring or vice versa. 

The court upheld the appeal and revoked the conviction.

Lawyer Michael Tanti Dougall assisted the appellant.