A woman who was handed a suspended sentenced for having an abortion had her conviction annulled after an appeals court found the judgement to be procedurally flawed, Times of Malta reported.The woman was found guilty of having an abortion and she was given an 18-month sentence suspended for three years.In January 2024, she allegedly experienced heavy bleeding and went to Mater Dei Hospital. According to the prosecution, the woman told medical staff that she had taken medication to terminate the pregnancy. An ultrasound carried out at the hospital showed that her uterus was empty at the time of admission.A doctor then filed a police report upon the advice of Mater Dei’s legal department. He eventually testified that the woman was pregnant but he could not determine how the pregnancy was terminated.The woman argued argued the bleeding may have been caused by a spontaneous miscarriage following a skiing trip during which she had fallen several times. She further denied knowing about the pregnancy.The court ultimately handed a guilty verdict because the defence did not provide evidence proving the miscarriage happened naturally.This decision was annulled by an appeals court earlier today, sending the case back to the court of magistrates.The defence argued that the original conviction relied heavily on hearsay and second-hand testimony rather than direct evidence, claiming prosecutors had sought to fill significant gaps in their case with unreliable accounts. It also maintained that the judgment was based on inferences drawn from incomplete evidence.However, the appeals court did not rule on those arguments, instead declaring the original judgment null because it failed to specify the legal provision under which the woman had been convicted. The case will now return to the Court of Magistrates for a new hearing.The woman was represented by lawyers Martina Caruana and Emma Portelli Bonnici.•