Woman accused of partner's attempted murder says she stabbed him in self-defence

A woman who stands accused of attempting to murder her ex-partner has told a court that she had stabbed him in self-defence, while he was beating her for refusing sex with him.

The Marsascala resident, who had been charged with attempted homicide in 2019, testified before Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Tuesday as the compilation of evidence against her continued.

She told the court that she had been in a relationship with the alleged victim, who had been abusive and violent towards her on several occasions, leading her to terminate the relationship.

However, after the relationship ended, she said the man had started a campaign of harassment, banging on her front door and randomly calling at her house at all times of the night, demanding to be let in.  

She said she had filed more than 12 police reports about the man, presenting the court with audio recordings of at least 12 calls to 112 which she says were also not followed up.  

The accused recalled how she had changed her address several times and had chosen an address close to a police station. 

On the day of the incident the victim had visited the accused’s residence late at night, demanding entry.  Her young son was asleep in her apartment at the time, she said, so she had let her ex-partner in to stop him banging on the door. 

Despite her repeated requests that he leave, the alleged victim refused, insisting that he wanted to stay and have sex with her.  

When she refused, he had punched her in the face, causing bleeding, she said.  

Asked by her lawyer Stefano Filletti how the stabbing had occurred, the witness told the court that she had been acting in self-defence, having been punched in the face. She recalled how she had run to the kitchen, where the man had grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against the kitchen cupboard.  

“I felt I should defend myself,” she told the magistrate today, explaining how she had reached out to grab something from the kitchen bench and grabbed a kitchen knife.  The woman said she had brandished the knife at her former partner in the hope that this would scare him off, telling him to stay away and that she was calling the police.  

“At that moment he shouted that he didn’t give a damn about the police and that he was not afraid of anyone,” she said, explaining that the stabbing had taken place at this point. The man then left the apartment.

Having realised what happened, her panic increased and she had fled the apartment, she said.  “I did not know what to do… I had lost all trust in the police,” she said.  The accused said she then returned to the flat to medicate herself and to wake her son up. In the meantime, the owner of the apartment had arrived, after being alerted by neighbours who heard the commotion.  

She went to the polyclinic for treatment, where she was arrested for attempted homicide, she said.  The woman testified that after the stabbing, the harassment and violence had not stopped, telling the court that she had video and audio recordings of the victim continuing to harass her, going to her home and being violent towards her.  

The accused explained that she had changed her address several times after the stabbing, in a bid to avoid further incidents, but recently the victim had moved home to live near her son’s school, adding that she feared that there would be further violent incidents, this time in the presence of her child.  

She had sought psychological help, but said that it was “only now that I can face my demons and start to fight my depression” because the man’s bail had been revoked in an unrelated case.  

Earlier in the sitting, a police officer testified that the victim had not gone to the police after being stabbed, but rather went to a friend's house. It was his friend who had alerted the authorities.  The victim chose not to testify in these proceedings.  

The case continues.

Inspector Eman Hayman is prosecuting, lawyer Stefano Filletti is defence council.