Woman jailed for hiding ‘Pele’

Mother of two, Alexandra Dalmas, 51 of Rabat will spend two months in jail, rather than three, after the Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed her conviction, reducing her jail time by just a month.

Dalmas, was arrested and charged in 2011 for hiding her fugitive boyfriend and notorious criminal Joseph Cini, known as 'Il-Pele'.

Cini was on the run after managing to escape from Mater Dei Hospital in August 2011 after he was taken there from prison - where he had been remanded in custody - complaining of chest pains.

He had claimed to have been left unattended when he asked to go the toilet. He was caught 24 hours later, after a rooftop chase in Sta Venera.

Dalmas however had argued that she had harboured the man at her flat because she was afraid of him.

Defence lawyer Roberto Montalto had argued that the cases the police had piled on Dalmas was a ploy to get at him, and to pressure her into revealing details they needed about him.

Dalmas, the lawyer claimed, had never had a court case in her life but then, all of a sudden, in the space of one month in 2011, she had two cases against her that were very shaky in terms of evidence, he argued.

Dalmas was separately charged together with Cini of burglary from a house, while also being charged for harbouring a criminal because the police believed that she knew his whereabouts when he was on the run although she denied any knowledge.

In response, Police Inspector Anthony Portelli had argued that there was evidence against her such as items elevated from her house that were identified as having been stolen. Among these items were a laptop computer and a laundry basket.

Dalmas was convicted last year by the Magistrates Court to three months in jail for having harboured Cini while he was on the run.

In handing judgement, Mr. Justice Lawrence Quintano, presiding over the Court of Criminal Appeal agreed with the judgment handed by the lower Court, but the fact that the woman enjoyed a clean criminal record worked in her favour, and reduced the conviction to two months in jail, rather than three.