Man remanded in custody for threatening former partner under protection order

A 36-year-old man was remanded in custody on Tuesday on charges of having threatened and intimidated the mother of his child.

Police inspector Omar Zammit arraigned the man, who told the court that he lived in a boathouse in St. Thomas Bay, before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, accusing him of threatening the woman as well as harassing and insulting her, breaching a protection order and recidivism.

The inspector explained the man had continued to threaten his former partner, in spite of the protection order. A risk assessment was carried out and concluded that the woman was in “extreme” danger.

The defendant, who told the court that he was self-employed, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Defence lawyer Matthew Xuereb asked the court to release the man on bail.

Inspector Zammit objected to the request, in view of the risk assessment result, the severity of the crime and the fact that civilian witnesses had yet to testify. The man already had a criminal record, added the inspector.

The man started to weep and sniffle loudly in the courtroom when Xuereb told the magistrate that a social worker who had been assigned to the defendant had recommended that the custody of his two children be granted to him.

“Maybe it’s time we start hearing both sides when drawing up risk assessments,” remarked the lawyer. He asked that the defendant’s Appogg case worker be summonsed to testify about his behaviour in a future sitting.

The court remanded the man in custody due to the fact that the case was still in a very early stage, saying that it was not convinced that he would stick to the bail conditions that it would otherwise impose.