A woman who was cleared of stealing a trailer and tent belonging to a luna park operator has had her acquittal confirmed on appeal, with the court finding that she had no intention of stealing but was simply following the terms of the concession.

Criminal charges were issued against Ruth Frau ten years ago after issues stemmed from an agreement she had signed with a third party who wanted to operate a Luna park at the Nicholl Grounds, Manoel Island, Gzira.

In terms of that agreement, signed in November 2012, Frau granted the concessionaire the space to set up a tent that was to be dismantled and removed by not later than March 22, 2013.

Failure to remove the tent within the stipulated time would be deemed to signify that the concessionaire “would be abandoning the tent” in favour of Frau.

Moreover, the tent was to serve as a guarantee in case the concessionaire defaulted on payment and would be deemed as an alternative to payment.

Three weeks before the signing of that concession agreement, the tent was erected on site.

Meanwhile, Frau obtained the relative permits from Gzira United football club and MIDI.

However, once the tent was to remain in place for a certain time, exceeding thirty days, a full development permit had to be obtained from MEPA.

Trouble brewed when the concessionaire defaulted on payment.

On April 29, 2013, Frau claimed that she was still owed €9,000 in spite of a judicial letter sent to the debtor a month previously.

“I was following what was written in the contract…”argued the woman, when trying to justify why she had taken the tent and trailer which she refused to hand back unless the concessionaire settled the pending balance.

She was subsequently charged with aggravated theft of the trailer and the tent, handling stolen property, threatening to file a criminal complaint against the concessionaire, exercising a pretended right, fraud as well as operating the Luna Park without the necessary licence and insurance cover.

In 2017 she was cleared of all charges on the basis of insufficient evidence, while the charge of operating the Luna Park without a licence was declared to be time barred.

The Attorney General filed an appeal.

In January 2023, the case was assigned to Mr Justice Neville Camilleri presiding over the Court of Criminal Appeal.

When delivering judgment the court observed that evidence showed that the grantor of the concession had no intention of stealing those items but was simply abiding by the terms of the agreement.

She insisted, when testifying in the proceedings, that her obligations on the concession were limited to obtaining permits from Gzira United and MIDI and that was what she did.

She had reasoned that keeping the trailer was necessary once the tent was removed and that both items went together.

The owner of the tent argued that he had set it up only because he was under the impression that all necessary permits were in hand.

But Frau countered that she had only found out about the requirement of a MEPA permit later.

The court observed that Frau had not wasted time in obtaining all other permits as agreed and would have strived in the same manner to get the full development permit had she known that it was required.

It was also in her own interest to do so since she was to receive a share of the profits.

In light of all evidence, the court confirmed that the Attorney General had not proved its case.

When all was considered, the court concluded that the accused had not signed the agreement in bad faith.

On the other hand, the concessionaire was well experienced in the business and could easily have checked, before setting up the tent, whether all permits were in hand, observed the court, confirming the acquittal.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.