Man remanded in custody after breaching protection order

A 39-year-old self-employed builder from Birkirkara was remanded in custody on Tuesday on charges of breaching a protection order in favour of his estranged partner.

He was arraigned before magistrate Elaine Rizzo, accused of breaching a protection order and threatening his former partner, as well as misuse of telecommunications equipment and breaching bail.

Police Inspectors Colin Sheldon and Christian Cauchi explained that the man had threatened his estranged partner, who is also the mother of his son, that he was going to do “something big,” after the man was told that his son had repeatedly been beaten up by his step brother.

The threat is understood to have been conveyed by instant messaging and voice messages.

The police told the court that they were in possession of the voice messages.

Inspector Sheldon explained that two days after this episode, the man had insulted the woman about her appearance when he had gone to pick up the son from the police station in obedience of a custody agreement.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer, Lennox Vella, requested bail.

The prosecution objected to the man being released due to the alleged breach of protection order and the fact that the victim had not yet testified.

Vella explained that the alleged incident had taken place because the man’s son had told him that he had been beaten up by his step-brother at his mother’s house. “The inspector already has WhatsApp messages and voice recordings to prove this,” added the lawyer.

The magistrate asked the lawyer to base his arguments on the risk assessment, but Vella said this was worthless.

“With all due respect, a risk assessment is a fill in the blanks, box ticking exercise with a set of standard questions. Did anyone speak to my client? No. Is it sworn? No. Did they hear his version of events? No. It has no probatory value, because you sit down and say whatever you like,” argued the lawyer. “When a risk assessment is a serious exercise then we can talk, but as it stands, today a risk assessment is simply a box ticking exercise.”

Vella stressed that his client was a self-employed builder, with no addictions and had a fixed address. “In truth, his wife filed a report. A protection order was issued and he was arrested. When the case then started, she didn’t even bother testifying. She was comfortable with the protection order.”

The lawyer questioned whether the elements necessary to deprive the man of his liberty were even present.

“He has no interest in this woman, they have a son between them. If need be, access to the son can be suspended until the child testifies.”

Bail also had a practical aspect, explained the lawyer. “If he is remanded in custody, he will not be able to earn anything and won’t be able to pay child support.”

The court, after noting the risk assessment and the fact that the man was charged with breaching a protection order and previous bail conditions, said it felt that at this stage he was not sufficiently trustworthy to be released from arrest and denied bail.