Man threatens wife after she refuses to sign his residence permit renewal papers

A care worker who admitted to charges of having threatened his wife, after she apparently refused to co-sign his residence permit renewal document has asked to be deported.

The 39-year-old Pakistani citizen, who resides in Hamrun, was arraigned before magistrate Rachel Montebello on Thursday on domestic violence charges involving his wife. The court was told that the couple also have two children.

The defendant, a part-time care worker, told the court that he wished to admit to the charges and wanted to return to his home country.
A guilty plea was entered. When asked to confirm his plea for a second time, he said “I am guilty and I want to go back to my home.” 

In his submissions on punishment, prosecuting police inspector Colin Sheldon argued for a minimum sentence in the circumstances, explaining that the defendant and his wife did not live together and because he intended to leave Malta after the conclusion of the proceedings against him.

Inspector Sheldon explained that the defendant’s residence permit had expired last month, which meant that he was currently residing in Malta illegally. “Part of the issue was that he needed to renew his permit and he required his wife’s signature to do so. She didn’t want to so he had contacted the immigration police and asked to be repatriated,” he said, going on to explain that this contact had taken place around ten days before the reported domestic violence incident. 

He was charged following a coordinated effort between the Domestic Violence and Immigration departments of the police force, aimed at repatriating the defendant after judgement.

Lawyer Martin Farrugia, assisting the defendant as legal aid counsel, argued for a minimum punishment, telling the court that his client had also been threatened with violence by his brother in law, and that only half the story had emerged in court. 

Magistrate Montebello handed the man a three-year conditional discharge and warned him to stay out of trouble in that period or face these charges again.