A woman who was found guilty of loitering for prostitution at Gżira and Marsa last April, when the island was under partial COVID-19 lockdown, has had her seven-month jail term reduced to a suspended sentence on appeal.
Charlene Gatt, 36, had twice been spotted by officers on patrol after dark, loitering on the pavement and running off when she sensed the police presence.
When asked for personal details, the woman allegedly told the officers her name was Stacy Gatt.
She was charged and sentenced to seven months behind bars after being declared guilty of loitering with intent, supplying false details and committing the wrongdoing while under a probation order issued in 2018.
The woman filed an appeal, arguing that the Magistrates’ Court had wrongly convicted her of loitering when there had not been sufficient evidence to support this charge. She further argued that the punishment was too harsh.
The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, rejected the first argument, observing that the Magistrates’ Court was “legally and reasonably” correct in finding guilt in this regard, since both direct and indirect evidence proved that the woman had been loitering.
Although loitering may take place at any public site, certain localities and particular streets were “synonymous with prostitution” especially at certain hours of the night.
The police had spotted Gatt in two such areas, first at Gżira and, a week later at Marsa, her behaviour clearly indicating her purpose at a time when the majority of residents were locked indoors during the public health emergency, the judge remarked.
Moreover, the appellant was known to police, having landed 13 previous convictions over similar charges.
However, the prosecution had not sufficiently proven that the judgment placing the accused under a probation order was final and not subject to appeal, said the court, thus revoking conviction in that regard.
Moreover, while proving that the appellant was a recidivist, the prosecution had not put forward sufficient proof to justify an increase of punishment by one degree.
Consequently, the court confirmed the conviction but reduced the punishment to a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Amadeus Cachia assisted the appellant.