A Nigerian-born woman with an Italian ID card was today given a suspended sentence after admitting in court to having attempted to travel out of Malta with a forged passport.
Aborisade Abidemi, 21, was arraigned before magistrate Monica Vella after immigration officers at Malta International Airport discovered her to be in possession of a false document.
"I did it" the woman stated in court, after being asked whether she understood the nature of the charges leading to her arraignment.
The court, after taking note of the woman's guilty plea, imposed a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
Upon hearing the court's sentence, the accused, believing that she was about to be sent to prison, began to sob loudly and had to be calmed down by lawyers who happened to be present in the courtroom. The woman was somewhat pacified after being told that she would not end up in jail but would be sent back to Italy.
Inspector Frankie Sammut prosecuted. Lawyer Yanica Bugeja was legal aid.
