German mother accused of abandoning her son

This morning German national, Sabrina Albrecht, 30, residing in Żebbuġ Gozo, was arraigned in Gozo Court by Inspector Bernard Spiteri in front of Magistrate Dr Joanne Vella Cuschieri and charged with abandoning her four-year-old son.

The mother pleaded not guilty but was denied bail.

As reported by MaltaToday yesterday, police sergeant Johann Said, from Gozo's Criminal Investigation Department, and constables Althea Sammut and David Xerri found an unaccompanied child wandering in a field in Triq is-Salini in Marsalforn.

The boy led the police to an apartment in Marsalforn, where they discovered a group of German children and their mothers, who were reported missing by their estranged partners in Germany.

Preliminary investigations revealthat three mothers and their children were hosted by a married couple, also German, after they came to Malta because of problems they had with their spouses.

Two of the boys and a girl found in the same apartment have been reported missing in Germany by their fathers, while the rest of the children were accompanied by their mothers.

The Germans denied having done anything illegal and said that they were hosting the women as part of a charity for battered mothers in Germany.

The agency Appogg was informed and sent representatives to Gozo to investigate the wellbeing of the children and the needs of the mothers.

In a statement issued later in the day, the Police communications office confirmed MaltaToday's report. The discovery, the CMRU said, took place on Tuesday and confirmed that the Maltese police were now working with the German authorities.

In its statement, the Police said that due to the ongoing investigations, it was not prudent to comment on the case.