Magistrate Lawrence Quintano considered the clean record of the accused, 21-year-old Emma Louise Mullay, and the petty circumstances of the case.

Last May, the accused had lodged a snatch and grab report giving a description of the assailant. She claimed that a thief had stolen her handbag containing her mobile phone and some Lm40.

Through the testimony of her friend, and a number of claims by the accused, it turns out that in fact no-one had robbed her.

Ms Mullay was under the influence of alcohol when she filed the report. The handbag was with her friend, who had left the bar they had earlier been in together. The same friend claimed that the accused had spent the money that night, while the mobile phone had been returned by the owner of the bar concerned.