Paul Grima said he had stopped in his car to speak to some young girls after he had been drinking in a bar in Paola. Being a self-confessed alcoholic, Grima said he could not remember what he had told them or what he had done.

The fathers of the victims testified in court and said Grima had accosted their daughters, exposed himself and asked the girls to touch him. When the police confronted the accused with these facts, he admitted the crimes.

The court took into consideration Grima’s clean record and his cooperation with the police. The suspended sentence given should act like “an axe waiting to fall” on his head, said presiding magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, to prevent him committing any more offences and force him to deal with his alcohol problem.

In addition to the sentence, the court ordered Grima’s probation officer John Testa to help him attend group sessions to deal with his alcoholism.

Grima was also ordered to pay Lm243 for court expenses since several experts had been appointed to provide character analyses. They determined that he used alcohol to overcome feelings of anxiety and shyness.

The court was presided over by magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera while inspector Maria Stella Cutajar prosecuted.