Dutchman's girlfriend found guilty of taking the law into her own hands

A Maltese woman who had reported her former boyfriend, Dutchman Johan Frederick Stellingwerf, to the police, accusing him of rape and fraud, has been found guilty of taking the law into her own hands after she held on to his possessions.

Over the course of their short relationship, the 27-year-old would host Stellingwerf at her house during his stays in Malta.

Stellingwerf filed a criminal complaint in November 2013 against his former girlfriend after she refused to return a number of personal possessions he had left at her house before going abroad. The application lists these possessions as including socks, underwear, a heater, a netbook, a printer, loudspeakers, books, shoes and photographs.

A court order, issued during the rape case, banning the publication of the woman’s name, appears to still be in force.

A search of the woman's residence did not recover all of the missing items. In addition, the woman argued that she had purchased the netbook and printer and that she had only permitted Stellingwerf to use them.

Stellingwerf testified that he had left the items at her residence before going abroad with the intention of  returning to the islands and settling down with her. He was arrested upon his return to Malta after the woman filed a report at the police station.

The court took into account the fact that the woman admitted that the clothes, which were obviously men's clothing, and the IT equipment were used by the complainant.

It admonished the woman for acting as if the items were hers and for taking the law into her own hands.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli found the woman guilty of the charges brought against her and handed her a six-month conditional discharge.

Earlier this year, Stellingewerf had filed challenge proceedings calling on the police to take action against the woman for making false rape accusations against him. In previous sittings, the courts had been told how the rape claim had been made at the same time that the woman was emailing nude photographs of herself to the accused.

In a Constitutional application filed by the Dutchman in November, he had claimed that the criminal proceedings against him had breached his fundamental rights, not least the decision to prohibit the press from reporting the case – an unnecessary measure as much of the evidence was purely of a legal nature.