A Libyan man has been jailed for four years after he was found guilty of attempted rape in a case that took place two years ago on St George's Bay.
Ahmed Rasem Franka, 30, was also found guilty of violent indecent assault and of having slightly injured his victim, despite claiming that he had had consensual sex with the victim.
The court heard how the woman was out drinking with friends on the night of 11 January 2015. While walking towards a taxi stand she was attacked from behind. The woman told the court that she ended up on a nearby beach, where the accused tried to have sex with her. Her screams for help were heard by passers-by, who called the police. Officers who arrived at the scene found that the woman had been partly undressed. The accused hurriedly tried to cover his genitals when he saw the officers.
Forensic experts found marks on the woman compatible with being held by the neck as well as other bruises on her chin and arm. They also found marks compatible to love bites on her breasts.
The accused told the court he had met the woman at a club and that, after a night of drinking and dancing, she had invited him for sex on the beach. He also insisted that passers-by had mistaken her singing for screaming but could not explain the bruises on her body.
Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, presiding over the case, said evidence left no doubt of the accused’s “illicit intention and volition to perpetrate the hideous crime of rape". While the woman had been drinking and flirting it was clear she did not want to have sex with the man. The accused had ignored her attempts to resist and could not take no for an answer, the court said, adding that he would have probably succeeded in raping the woman had it not been for the passers-by who helped.
Mr Franka was jailed for four years and a protection order was issued in favour of the victim. Inspector Elton Taliana prosecuted.
In a separate case Mr Franka stands charged with the murder of a Colombian national in another incident that took place in Paceville.