Verbal argument leads to conviction for domestic violence

A verbal argument between a married couple has led to a man being convicted of domestic violence charges.

Inspector Trevor Micallef arraigned the man before magistrate Joe Mifsud this morning.

The court heard his lawyer, legal procurator Peter Paul Zammit, explain that the couple, who had been married for 25 years and have four children together, had a row.

The wife had left six weeks before the incident and the couple were separating, he said.

During the row, the man had said something to the effect of “I don’t want to hear that you have someone else because I’ll kill you all.” He also allegedly said he “felt like stabbing [her] in the neck with a biro.”

The woman had promptly gone to file a police report and was put in touch with a social worker from support agency Appogg. The social worker deemed the case to be high risk and the accused was arrested at 11pm, said the inspector.

The accused’s lawyer told the court that the incident had been blown out of proportion by the woman, pointing out that after the argument, which took place at a bank, the couple had gone home together without incident.

The man pleaded guilty to the charges.

In view of his guilty plea, Magistrate Mifsud handed the man an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for one year and imposed a protection order for five years in favour of the woman.