Man charged with harassing, framing estranged wife ordered not to approach her

Man granted bail after pleading not guilty to fabricating false evidence against former wife and accessing her emails.

A 51-year-old man currently undergoing separation proceedings was today granted bail after pleading not guilty to harassing and to filing a false police report against his estranged wife in June.

The accused was slapped with a total of 12 charges, including harassing his former wife, and fabricating false evidence against her and other people.

The man, who lives in Sliema and works as a document management officer, also denied accessing his estranged wife’s email account, as well as stealing and copying documents without authorisation.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli ordered a ban on the publication of the names of the accused as well as that of his former wife to protect their identities.

In submissions for bail, the prosecution argued that it does not oppose bail at this stage. Taking this into account, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli granted the man bail against a personal guarantee of €3,000.

The court also imposed a protection order against the accused’s former wife and ordered him not to approach her. A psychiatrist was also appointed to examine the man’s mental health.

Police Inspector Anna Marie Xuereb prosecuted while Lawyers Alessandro and Paul Lia were defence counsel.