A 16-year-old, who admitted to lying under oath in rape proceedings against her former boyfriend, has been conditionally discharged.

The teenager was suffering from sleepless nights triggered by a guilty conscience, prosecuting inspector Oriana Spiteri told the Court on Wednesday.

The inspector added that the 16-year-old student had told her social carer that she wanted to speak to the police.

The girl confessed that she had not been truthful when testifying under oath in a hearing before former magistrate Aaron Bugeja during proceedings in which her then-boyfriend was charged with the rape of a relative of the girl.

She said that she had lied in order to help her boyfriend, the prosecuting officer explained.

“Boyfriends come and go. Family does not. Don’t step into the flames on account of someone else. Go and tell the truth,” Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, presiding over the arraignment, warned her.

Defence lawyer Leontine Calleja explained that the girl had come forward out of her own will and was still in time to undo the wrong she had committed.

After taking note of these submissions and in view of the girl’s age and early guilty plea, the Court declared her guilty but conditionally discharged her for one year.

The magistrate also recommended that the incident does not impact her future work opportunities.

“At least there’s still someone with a conscience. At the end of the day, she turned to the police to fix the wrong she did,” remarked the Magistrate.