Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor:  Joana Mihajlovska, Agency: Newsflash

A Maltese man who spent over a year in prison on false charges has been awarded over EUR 23,000 (GBP 19,651) in compensation after his daughter admitted she lied about him sexually abusing her when she was a minor.

Emmanuel Camilleri was imprisoned for 397 days and entered Malta’s sex offender registry after he was found guilty of sexually abusing his own underaged daughter in 2011.

However, he had his conviction overturned after the complainant admitted in court that her mum encouraged her to invent the story, resulting in the young woman’s conviction for perjury in 2015.

After his release from prison, Emmanuel filed for compensation from the state, but his initial claim was rejected on the basis that the wrongdoing was the result of a private individual.

He appealed the rejection and the court found in his favour, saying there had been a miscarriage of justice and awarding him EUR 23,293 (GBP 19,934) in compensation on 25th March.

Leanne Camilleri was 21 when she decided to come clean to the court about the false claim that resulted in her dad’s imprisonment.

She said at the time: “My mum was celebrating because my father was in prison and after a while I said that it was enough and I had my own independence. The lie was weighing down on me because I didn’t want my dad to continue to suffer.”

Leanne told the court how her mother, Lisa May Camilleri, 47, encouraged her to lie about finding blood in her underwear after supposedly being raped by her dad.

The complainant’s mother was reportedly bitter that Emmanuel, from whom she was separated, had found a new partner.

Leanne was handed down a three-year probation order and 100 hours of community service, and her mother received a four-year prison sentence.

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