A 22-year-old old woman who recently gave birth to a baby girl was today arraigned before the courts charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

The young woman, who currently resides in Dar Ghabex in Birkirkara, a shelter for woman, appeared before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale also charged with transmitting an infectious disease onto another person. As prosecuting officer Inspector Elliott Magro explained, the woman bit a police officer in the foot as he held her to be cuffed.

The Inspector said that she had tried to bite a police officer's hand before, but the officer had managed to pull his hand away just in time.

Despite the charge sheet listing the fact that the accused tried to consciously transmit an infectious disease as the first on the list, the police inspector clarified that “there was a risk” that the woman is carrying Hepatitis C.

Defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi argued that there was no real proof that the accused is suffering from the disease. He also lashed out at the prosecution for trying to insinuate that the woman attacked the police, when in fact, it was she who was approached by no less than five police officers. “Who did they think they were dealing with? Toto, Qahbu or Qattus?”

He also made reference to the fact that the woman is mentally unstable and according to Dr Azzopardi, this is clearly seen by the way she replied in her police statements. The accused cried as Dr Azzopardi further explained her sorry state.

“She is a young mother, who needs mental treatment. Her baby girl was taken away from her only four days after giving birth and she just wanted to see her two-month-old baby.”

The accused, accompanied by a fostering step-mother, is unemployed and has no financial means to survive. “Did the police need to be so aggressive with a woman?” Dr Azzopardi asked.

The prosecution then referred to a case when the accused had been arraigned before the courts for attacking and allegedly biting a police officer.  Jason Azzopardi then commented “as if she’s some Suarez,” referring to the Barcelona striker who has shown a tendency to bite his football adversaries during big matches.

The woman pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against her as the defence asked for bail.

The court, however, declined the request and the woman was therefore remanded in custody.