Wife of Nicholas Azzopardi to take legal action over insinuations of illicit affair

The wife of Nicholas Azzopardi has said she will take legal action against his father and brother, over allegations that she may have had an intimate relationship with the police officer responsible for Azzopardi while in police custody in April 2008, when he suffered grievous injuries that later proved fatal.

Nicholas Azzopardi's father Joseph has claimed his son was mocked by police sergeant Adrian Lia during his interrogation at the police headquarters, insinuating an illicit affair with Azzopardi's estranged wife Claudette.

The Azzopardis were separated but living under the same roof, while still being locked in litigation over the custody of their two children, a son and a daughter.

Claudette Azzopardi has denied knowing or having had an intimate affair with suspended police sergeant Adrian Lia.

She also denied having reported her husband to the police as retribution after a Family Court granted extended custody of their daughter to the paternal grandparents.

In February 2008, a court granted extended custody after Nicholas Azzopardi filed an application before the Family Court alleging that his wife was not fulfilling her duties as a mother and that the issues between the spouses was causing a stressful environment at the matrimonial home.

Claudette Azzopardi said in a statement that a children's lawyer appointed by the family court did not confirm the allegations, but that the daughter needed a more permanent base where to spend her time, recommending she spend more time at her paternal grandparents.

"My client remained with full care and custody rights over her daughter... the statements made by Joseph Azzopardi in which he states that my client filed a police report soon after she lost care and custody of her daughter is utterly false," Claudette Azzopardi's lawyer said in a statement.

Nicholas Azzopardi found himself being questioned by police officers, just hours before he was found beneath the bastions of the police depot suffering from injuries allegedly incurred from a fall, after his wife reported him to the police alleging he had abused of her daughter.

Azzopardi had been brought in for questioning on the strength of a report by child welfare agency Appogg, which claimed there was "a possibility that child abuse could have taken place", according to Claudette Azzopardi's lawyer.

Appogg conducted an investigation after a report by the police - which had already questioned the Azzopardi couple and their daughter - over the course of a three-month follow-up investigation.

Earlier in February, the Magistrates' Court had ordered that their daughter reside at a children's institute, and that no access be given to Nicholas Azzopardi in order to avoid any form of interference in the collection of evidence. On 22 April, the Family Court allowed the daughter to return to the matrimonial home, where Nicholas Azzopardi was still residing until the day he was brought in for questioning by the police.

Azzopardi died in hospital just weeks after he sustained injuries while he was in police custody. He was found unconscious beneath the bastions of the Floriana police headquarters. He later declared in a video recording captured by his family stating that he was violently beaten up by police officers, and also gave his version of the events in the magisterial inquiry by Magistrate Antonio Vella.

A new inquiry has since been re-opened after police sergeant Adrian Lia was suspended from the police on charges brought against him of stealing €30,000 in seized drug monies.