Man cleared of all charges in harassment case

A 42-year-old man has been cleared of harassing his ex-partner, after a magistrate ruled there was insufficient proof to find him guilty of the charges.

Magistrate Abigail Critien, after considering all the evidence, decided there was not enough circumstantial evidence to reach the beyond reasonable doubt threshold required for a conviction. The court stated that any doubt as to the guilt of the accused, must work in favour of the accused.

The defendant had been charged with multiple offences occurring between 20 July and 24 July of last year.

The charges brought against him included harassing his ex-partner more than once, the use of electronic communication by which he threatened to commit a crime, violating a restraining order and committing a crime while under a probation order.

The defendant has a four-year-old son with his female ex-partner and prior to the incident, the parties were in a relationship for eight years.

The woman had filed a police report against her ex-partner because even after a restraining order was issued by the court, he kept calling her and allegedly harassing her.

The woman also said she had filed multiple reports against the accused and this was confirmed by Inspector Audrey Micallef.

The plaintiff also testified that the defendant was not allowed to speak to her at all costs, even regarding their son. However, upon cross-examination, the alleged victim confirmed that she had a contract with the accused, giving him rights and permission to have access to his son.

She also explained how the defendant used to call her names, threaten her by mentioning a bomb, stalking and harassing her and any of her male Facebook friends who would show any kind of interest in her.

The court heard from multiple witnesses that upon his arrest, the accused was constantly swearing, arguing and trying to bang his head against the window of the police car. It also heard that the accused punched the door of the courtroom upon hearing that he was not to be released.

When cross-examined by defence lawyer Mark Busuttil, Inspector Audrey Micallef  confirmed that she was aware that the accused had gone to the police station in order to make contact with his ex-partner in order to pay her maintenance and also to see his son.

The inspector said that the accused did not need to contact her by the use of his mobile phone but instead this should have been done through the police. However, she could not confirm if this was told to the accused and insisted it was not the police’s responsibility to address matters concerning maintenance. The inspector said her only focus was the criminal matter at hand.

Inspector Micallef also said that upon summoning the accused to her office, he fully cooperated with orders.

When testifying, the accused explained how on 20 July he went to the police station and was given the documents related with his right to have access to his son.

He asked the Inspector on dut what he had to do next since it was his turn to be with his son. On the day, the accused also tried calling the plaintiff to show the inspector that he could not contact her.

The court also heard that two seperate police officers attempted to call the woman, but upon picking up the phone, she was refusing to give the accused his right to see his son.

When questioned about previously making a scene when being arraigned, the accused replied that he was in severe chest pain, which he had suffered for for the past five years. Upon his arrest, the accused had complained of pain and had to been taken to hospital.

The accused also said the handcuffs were causing pain in his arms. He testified that he had asked the police officer to handcuff him on the front  after explaining to him that he had injuries in his arms, back and neck but the inspector ignored him.

In his testimony, the accused affirmed that he was only interested in seeing his son and paying the maintenance that was due and stated that if he truly wanted to harass his ex he would have gone to the plaintiff’s house.

After hearing all evidence, the court cleared the man of all charges.

Defence lawyer Mark Busuttil represented the accused. Inspector Audrey Micallef prosecuted.