Man guilty of threatening ex-partner, breaking into her home

Protection, treatment, and restraining orders have been imposed on an Italian man, who was also fined and placed on probation today, after he admitted to going inside his ex-partner's residence after getting drunk.

The 56-year-old Ħamrun resident is understood to have had a 12-year relationship with the victim, which had since ended. Despite the relationship being over, while drunk, the defendant had let himself into the woman’s home while she was out.

When the woman returned and discovered that her ex-partner was inside her residence, she had told him to leave, at which point the man had threatened her.

The man was also charged with having a knife in public without a permit, after the police retrieved a large butcher’s knife from his car.

In his submissions on punishment, defence lawyer Jacob Magri suggested a probation order and a fine, in view of the man’s early guilty plea. The prosecution did not object. 

Finding the man guilty as charged, Magistrate Noel Bartolo fined the man €500 and imposed a probation order, a treatment order for alcohol abuse and a restraining order on the man, all of which are to remain in force for a three-year period.