Couple remanded in custody after argument over court fines

A Swedish couple were remanded in custody on Wednesday, after being charged with grievously injuring each other in a fight over who should pay two €800 fines that a court had imposed on them last month.

Moses Efraim Gudmundsson, 31, and Ronja Marie Ekenryd, 33, both Swedes who have no fixed address - apparently residing in a tent pitched at Riviera Bay, were charged in separate arraignments before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.

Both defendants were charged with grievously injuring each other and breaching a suspended sentence. Ekenryd alone was further charged with carrying a knife in public without a permit and using it to wound the other defendant.

Inspector Christian Cauchi, prosecuting together with lawyer Etienne Savona from the Office of the Attorney General, explained that in a recent district sitting the pair had been handed three-month prison sentences suspended for 1 year, ordered to pay €500 in damages and as well as being fined €800 each.

This after they were found guilty of insulting police officers and disobeying their legitimate orders.

The court was told that an argument had erupted after Gudmundsson told his girlfriend to pay his fine, together with hers.

The man had suffered a broken nose and a cut on his hand, allegedly inflicted with a Swiss army knife wielded by his girlfriend, explained the inspector.

But Ekenryd had evidently not emerged unscathed from the altercation, either, and appeared in court with her face evidently bruised, cradling her right shoulder.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges but did not request bail as they were unable to provide a fixed address to the court.

Lawyer Victor Bugeja assisted Gudmundsson and lawyer Yanika Barbara Sant, Ekenryd.