Man sentenced over 'one-off' incident of domestic abuse

A labourer from Zurrieq has received a suspended sentence for causing his wife to fear that he would be violent towards her, in what was described as a “one-off episode.”

Inspector Roderick Attard, prosecuting, told magistrate Nadine Lia that the police had received a phone call from the man’s wife yesterday, asking for assistance. Police had gone to the couple’s Zurrieq home and knocked on the front door. After knocking for a long time, the accused had finally opened the front door, said the inspector.

The wife had explained that there had been a course of conduct leading to her fearing the man would be violent towards her. A firearm, which was not believed to have been used in the incident, was also seized from the property. 

The accused pleaded guilty to the solitary charge of causing the woman to fear violence.

His lawyer, Marion Camilleri, told the court that it was a “one-off episode” and pointed out that there were no pending separation proceedings in relation to the couple. She pushed for a conditional discharge, saying that this would still leave a punishment dangling over his head.

The court, however, opted to sentence the man to five months imprisonment, suspended for one year. It also bound him to keep the peace with his wife for 1 year or pay a penalty of €1,000.