Man pleads guilty to violent incident over 'unfaithful' girlfriend

A man “obsessed” with his girlfriend has been found guilty of threatening and slightly injuring her after being told that she was seeing someone else.

The 40-year-old Gzira resident, who is not being named in order to protect his victim, was charged over an incident in Luqa which occurred on Saturday.

Besides the threats and slight injury charges, the man was also accused of damaging the victim’s car and breaching the peace.

The accused pleaded guilty during his arraignment on Monday.

Inspector Colin Sheldon told the court that the incident appears to have been sparked by a phone call from one of the woman’s female friends to the accused, informing him that his girlfriend was being unfaithful.

Defence lawyer Frank Cassar submitted that the victim in this case was the accused, even though he was wrong to assault the woman. He explained that the couple had been together for seven years and that the woman, a police officer, was the mother of the accused’s three-year-old daughter.

Cassar told Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech that the man was "obsessed" with his girlfriend and “still loved her immensely,” also stating that there had been no prior incidents and that this had been a one-off.

Sentencing him to 18 months in prison, suspended for 30 months, the magistrate urged the defendant to turn over a new leaf and focus on the future, warning him of the serious consequences he would face should he break the law again.

Family and health were the most important things, said the court, warning him to control his temper and reminding him that he had a young daughter to take care of. 

The court also imposed a 12-month restraining order, prohibiting the man from contacting the victim.