Woman in court after false theft report leads to two men's arrest

Margherita Galea, 50, from Qormi was this afternoon conditionally discharged for three years after she admitted to filing a false police report when she claimed that two men stole €20,000 from her car after spraying her with pepper spray. Magistrate Giovanni Grixti heard how her report led to two men, who she named in her report, being held under arrest for about 50 hours. Inspector James Grech said that on August 14, Ms Galea filed a report claiming that the previous day the men stole €20,000, and she later said the amount was of €10,000. Investigations showed that she was never in the area where she claimed she was robbed. Her lawyer, Marion Camilleri, said that Ms Galea had really been robbed but she lied about the details of how and where it happened. Speaking from the dock, Ms Galea admitted initially saying €20,000 were stolen because she was angry at the men. She said she did not want to pursue the case against the men for stealing €10,000 because she knew they spent the money and did not want to have to spend more money on legal fees. The magistrate ordered her general interdiction for five years.