A woman was conditionally discharged after she pleaded guilty to attempting to commit an abortion.

The woman, whose name cannot be published, was charged with trying to commit an abortion in Hamrun on 15 April 2006.

The court, presided over by magistrate Saviour Demicoli, heard prosecuting officer Police Inspector Louise Calleja say that the incident was a sorry case involving a woman whose personal and domestic circumstances led her to a state of panic. As a result she sought to terminate her pregnancy; however, she immediately realised she was committing a mistake.

In fact she immediately rushed to St Luke’s Hospital where the unborn child was saved.

The woman, a single mother, is currently bringing up the child in a responsible manner with the help of her brother, the court heard.

Magistrate Demicoli cleared the woman of the charges in view of the circumstances surrounding the case, including the woman’s behaviour, her commitment to raising the child, her early guilty plea and her previously clean police record. But he conditionally discharged her for three years.

Dr José Herrera was defence counsel.