Serial fraudster claims to be abused girl

An Australian woman who hit the headlines here in 2013 after convincing gardaí she was a child sex trafficking victim and who was later deported from Canada after making similar claims, has now appeared in court in her home country after claiming to be a 13-year-old abuse victim.

In 2013, Samantha Azzopardi, who is now 28, was found wandering in a distressed state outside the GPO in Dublin.

Apparently speaking no English, she was taken into protective custody and kept under armed guard at Temple Street Children’s Hospital after officers became convinced she was a child trafficking victim.