Mother's jail term converted to fine

An appeals court this morning transformed a one-month jail term given to a mother for not granting her former husband access to their son to a €250 fine. The 57-year-old teacher, had originally been jailed one month for denying the father access to their son on October 15 and 16, 2011 and on December 9, 2011. Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano said that the duty of access was very serious with the consequence being jail in some countries. In this case, he said, the boy was now 18 so, given the circumstances, he was converting the jail term into a fine. Speaking to journalists just after leaving court room, the mother said she was glad the nightmare was finally over. Her lawyer Ludwig Caruana had requested a Presidential pardon for the mother in this case but is now considering dropping the request.