Lawyer charged with threatening estranged wife

A 46-year-old lawyer found himself in the dock this morning, accused of threatening to kill his estranged wife.

The man, who cannot be named by order of the court, was charged with making the threats on 16 June when the woman had picked the man up from the airport upon his return after undergoing surgery abroad.

Before magistrate Audrey Demicoli, Inspector Godwin Scerri explained that the couple were undergoing separation proceedings and that police had received a number of reports of domestic violence from the woman.

The decision to arrest the lawyer was made after the police were told that he had threatened the woman with her life.

“The threats have escalated and he has threatened to either kill her or get someone to kill her,” the inspector explained.

Defence lawyer Veronique Dalli highlighted that there were no witnesses, only allegations at this stage. 

At a point, the accused stood up in the dock insisting that he had only told his wife to stop emailing him, an assertion the woman appeared to disagree with.

The parties live next door to each other and have three children. Two teenage male children lived with the accused, the younger child residing with the mother. The boys were present for today's sitting and chatted with the accused before the court was in session, also speaking with their mother after the arraignment was over .

Magistrate chided the accused and his wife, telling them that they are adults and should know better than to behave in this way, out of respect for their children if nothing else.

Dalli requested bail, which the prosecution did not object to as long as a protection order is issued.

Bail was granted against a personal guarantee of €2,500. A protection order was issued ordering the two parties’ to communicate solely through their lawyers, for the ongoing separation proceedings.

The court upheld the defence's request to ban the identification of the parties, in order to protect the young children.