A report about an attempted child abduction at Ghadira has turned out to be false, TVM reports.

Last week it was reported that the police were holding a man in connection with the attempted kidnapping of a five-year-old boy at Ghadira Bay. This happened after the boy’s mother wrote on social media that a foreign man approached her child as he was playing with sand and took him away, putting his hand over the boy’s mouth. She claimed that the man tried to take the boy inside his tent to “abuse” him.

But the national broadcaster has now reported that the entire incident was made up. It said the mother’s claims were not proved. Social workers had spoken to the boy, who had given a totally different version of events. TVM says the social workers were convinced that the boy’s version was the real one.

The man, who is a foreigner, was accompanied by his girlfriend. It is being reported that the boy’s parents argued with the couple who, they said, had taken their ‘usual’ spot at the beach. The foreign couple refused to budge, with the Maltese family settling for a nearby spot. Sometime later the Maltese woman called the police, making up the outrageous claims.

The woman also claimed that the foreign man had bitten her son, but this also turned out to be untrue.

TVM said the investigations had stopped and there was no case against the man. The Maltese couple have been given a warning.