A woman landed herself in hot water after offering her home address to guarantee bail for a man, currently facing criminal proceedings, only for the police to find out later that he was not living there. 

Marica Bezzina, a 32-year-old Ħamrun resident, was arraigned on Thursday under arrest, charged with testifying falsely during bail proceedings concerning a Georgian man, one of two suspects behind a string of thefts.

Kakhaber Lomtadze, 41, had been arrested after a rooftop chase in Fgura last month. During proceeding against him before Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, Ms Bezzina supplied her home address as the one where the man would be residing at. A fixed address is one of the essential requisites for bail. 

However, when the police turned up at the woman’s home to check on the man, they reported that he was not there. Her somewhat nervous behaviour had aroused their suspicions, prompting further investigations which ultimately resulted in the separate arraignments of Ms Bezzina and Mr Lomtadze on Thursday.

The woman admitted to giving false testimony and was placed under a three-year probation order. 

“Someone will help you so that you will make no more mistakes that might land you back in court,” said presiding Magistrate Ian Farrugia as the arraignment came to an end, with the woman nodding in understanding.

As the woman followed her lawyer, Raisa Colombo, out of the courtroom, her place at the dock was promptly taken by the man on whose account she had landed on the wrong side of the law.

Mr Lomtadze, leaning on crutches and assisted by an interpreter, pleaded not guilty to allegedly corrupting the witness in his bail proceedings as well as breaching bail conditions.

No request for bail was made at Thursday’s arraignment and the court remanded the man in custody.

Inspector Shawn Pawney prosecuted. Lawyers Ishmael Psaila, Edward Gatt and Shawn Zammit were defence counsel to Mr Lomtadze.