‘Girl’s rape claim wiped out six years of my life’

Released from the noose of gang rape allegations that suffocated six years of his life, Rhys Fiteni feels as if he has won the lottery and his eyes still well up when he recalls the court verdict – not guilty. “This woman wiped out six years of my life, but I refuse to let her rob me of the rest of my life,” the 26-year-old from Senglea told The Sunday Times. Last Tuesday, six years to the day from when an 18-year-old girl turned up at a police station claiming she was gang raped, Mr Fiteni, Keith Bartolo and Ronald Barbara were cleared of the charges. In a 113-page judgment, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera found the woman had actually bragged about her sexual prowess and told the young men she could handle all three in bed; a challenge they took up. From the testimony of various witnesses – and forensic evidence revealing no signs of violent conduct – the court ruled the girl was never forced into doing anything against her will. Reflecting on that Sunday afternoon in April 2006, Mr Fiteni, who was represented in court by lawyer Joe Giglio, said it all started as a joke while they were taking a stroll along the Senglea promenade. “I’m not proud of...