Three men cleared of Gozo gang-rape, no evidence presented by prosecution

Three men from Gozo have been cleared of alleged sexual assault and rape of a drunk woman that took place nine years ago, after forensic evidence showed the sexual encounter to have been consensual.

The men, Paul Xerri, 46 of Xagħra, Mark Cutajar, 31 from Nadur and Aaron Camilleri, 28 also from Nadur were finally declared not guilty of participating in the alleged sex attack on a British woman in Qala.

Cutajar alone was accused of rape, whilst Xerri and  and Camilleri were accused of complicity amongst other charges.

The court had heard how the police were called by the boyfriend of one of the victim’s friends, after he found the woman screaming outside their front door.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud pulled no punches in his criticism of the way the police had investigated and prosecuted the case, highlighting the fact that the prosecuting officer had not presented any evidence during compilation proceedings and pointing out that between 2011 and 2016 not a single witness had testified in court.

A court-appointed medico-forensic expert had reported that he had only seen a few, light, scratches on the girl’s skin and none of the expected external or internal bruising that occurs with physical violence or rape.

The expert had also reported that the girl appeared drunk and had changed the version she had told him several times, identifying one accused and then another as the person who had raped her. This was corroborated by the doctor who had examined the girl in the casualty department.

The girl herself had testified to having been drunk at the time, noted the court. “Not drunk that I couldn’t stand up, no. I was just happy drunk, in a giggly mood, you know, that sort of drunk. I wasn’t like paralytic drunk,” she had said.

She said her memory had “gone blank” as to the ensuing sexual encounter, although she claimed to have remembered pushing AC away.

The court remarked the accused men had spent the past nine years “under a guillotine” and lambasted the investigation, saying the official conducting it had a duty towards the victims, the accused but also to society. The costs of the court case amounted to €6,056 which the state would have to pay as guilt had not been established, the court noted.

It observed that the men accused had been consistent in their accounts, from the time of their arrest to when they had testified in court. The memories of the alleged victim, by comparison, had been inconsistent and vague.

The magistrate then said that the court was satisfied that the girl had enticed the men into group sex and had at no time demonstrated any contrary intention. She had, in fact, chosen to remain there after arguing with a female companion who wanted to leave, he said.

The court pointed out that the woman was not a minor and could have stopped the accused if she hadn’t been happy with the direction the night was taking. At no point did the evidence show that the woman had screamed or called for help. Rather, the court argued, the woman “knew the accused and had been drinking with them a short time before.”

The court said it was bound to decide on the basis of the evidence before it, remarking that it was mystified as to how the men could have been charged with these offences on the basis of the evidence.

Holding that “not a shred of evidence that a rape had even taken place,” the court declared the men innocent of the charges.

Lawyers Stephen Tonna Lowell, Kathleen Grima and Deborah Mercieca appeared for the defendants.

Police inspector Josric Mifsud prosecuted.