A woman who stands accused of trying to strangle her own daughter to death has been given a major legal boost after a court expunged her initial statement to the police as well as her daughter’s testimony from the case records.

The decision means prosecutors will be unable to rely on those two key pieces of evidence to secure a conviction against the woman.

Jordanos Gabrhiwet, a 35-year-old Eritrean woman living at the Ħal Far Open Centre, is alleged to have tried to kill her nine-year-old daughter by strangling her with a shoelace and hitting her on the head in July 2019.

The daughter was saved when a man intervened, prosecutors say.

The accused initially told police that she wanted to kill her daughter because she was disobedient and made her angry. She was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder and slight bodily harm. Prosecutors asked the court to sentence her to anything between eight and 40 years in prison.

But the woman’s defence team argued that her initial statement to the police was invalid as it was given without a lawyer being present, despite her having previously agreed to be represented by one.

They also argued that the daughter’s testimony about the incident, given in November 2020, should also be invalidated, as the child was not informed that she had the right to not testify against her mother.

The court presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera ruled in her favour on both counts. It noted that testimony by police officers indicated that the woman had agreed to have a lawyer and had also consulted one over the phone. But no lawyer was present for her initial interrogation.

As for the child’s testimony, the child had initially declined to answer any questions in court and only did so at a subsequent session via videoconferencing. There was nothing to indicate that she was told she had the right not to testify, the court said.

The case against the woman continues. 

The accused was represented by lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri.