Man charged with attempted rape of his partner

A man is being held in preventive custody after denying charges relating to the attempted rape of his partner. 

A 37-year-old construction worker from Żejtun, whose name cannot be published, was arraigned before magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech earlier today, accused of the attempted rape of the woman, committing non-consensual sexual acts with her, holding her against her will, subjecting her to unwanted sexual behaviour, inflicting bodily harm as a means to commit those offences and causing her to fear that he would be violent towards her.

The man is believed to have tried to suffocate the alleged victim, when she resisted his attempt to rape her. 

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The court imposed a ban on the publication of the names of both the alleged victim and the defendant, at the request of the prosecution and parte civile, to avoid secondary victimisation of the victim or their young children.

Lawyers Etienne Borg Ferranti and Dominic Micallef, assisting the defendant, requested bail for their client.

Borg Ferrante pointed out that the man had no prior convictions and still needed to go to work to maintain his children. 

Lawyer Cynthia Tomasuolo, representing the Office of the Attorney General, objected to the request, telling the court that the incident took place in the presence of the couple’s young children, stressing the risk that the defendant could attempt to tamper with evidence if granted bail at this stage.

The court, in view of the gravity of the charges, as well as the very early stage of proceedings, where the victim and children were yet to testify, denied the request for bail. 

“There is a strong potential for tampering with evidence, and taken together with the fact that the punishments contemplated are substantial periods of imprisonment, which increase the risk of the defendant attempting to abscond to avoid these consequences,” ruled the magistrate.

A protection order was also issued at the prosecution’s request, in favour of the alleged victim and her family.

Lawyer Marita Pace Dimech represented the alleged victims as parte civile.