Tunisian accused of domestic violence changes plea to guilty

A Tunisian man who had recently been arraigned on charges of savagely beating his Maltese wife has been handed a suspended sentence after he withdrew his not guilty plea and filed an admission.

The man, who is not being named to protect the identity of the victim, had beat the woman in front of their four year-old daughter, after she had told him that he was lazy.

Her injuries were clearly visible when she had attended the last sitting with one black eye and several butterfly stitches on her face. During that sitting, the court had been told that the incident was not an isolated one, but had been the first time in which the police had been involved.

The accused had initially pleaded not guilty to charges of causing serious injury to his wife and threatening her but this morning the court was told that he had withdrawn that plea and wished to plead guilty.

In view of his admission, Magistrate Doreen Clarke handed down an 18-month custodial sentence, suspended for four years, and placed him under a four-year supervision order. The court granted a three-year protection order to the woman and ordered the Tunisian not to communicate with the woman except with regards to matters concerning their daughter.

Inspector Godwin Scerri prosecuted, while lawyer Stefano Filletti was defence counsel.