A man was convicted of rape and another was acquitted by a jury after six hours of deliberation on Wednesday. 

Emmanuel Ngumezi and Seydon Bandango, from Nigeria and Burkina Faso respectively, were accused of abducting an Italian woman in St George's Bay, forcing her into a car and driving her to Pembroke, where the rape allegedly took.

The case happened in July, 2016.

The trial was held behind closed doors.

The jurors found Mr Ngumezi not guilty of rape while Mr Bandango was declared guilty.

Both were found guilty of indecent assault and abduction.

The sentence is expected to be handed down on Thursday.  

Details of what actually happened on that day remain unknown, with a court having imposed a publication ban following the two suspects’ arraignment. 

The few details that emerged in open court indicated that the rape was reported to police through a phonecall from someone who heard a woman screaming inside a parked Fiat Punto at Pembroke.

Officers arriving onsite had found a woman inside the car, together with a naked man. A second man standing outside the vehicle had immediately run off after spotting police approaching. He was arrested a short while later. 

The investigation was led by inspectors Trevor Micallef and Elton Taliana. Lawyers Anne Marie Cutajar and Nadia Attard from the Office of the Attorney General prosecuted.

Lawyer Charmaine Cherrett was counsel to Ngumezi and lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was counsel to Bandango.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared parte civile for the victim.