No bail for man accused of threatening pregnant ex with a penknife

A man from Qormi has denied threatening his eight-month pregnant ex-girlfriend with a penknife.

The defendant, a 29-year-old Egyptian national who told the court he worked as a plasterer, was arraigned before magistrate Joseph Gatt on Tuesday on domestic violence charges. He was also accused of recidivism.

Police Inspector Omar Zammit, prosecuting, told the court that the alleged victim had called the Bormla police station at 8:30pm on Sunday, to report that her ex-boyfriend was behind her front door, threatening her. Officers had gone to the scene and moved the man away.

A short while later the woman, who is eight months pregnant with the defendant’s baby, left the house to go on an errand. The defendant followed her and allegedly threatened her with a knife, the inspector said. 

The police had called up the man, instructing him to go to the police Domestic Violence Unit to be questioned, and was arrested after failing to comply.

After the defence suggested that the couple were married, Inspector Zammit clarified that the marriage had contracted an Islamic marriage which had not been officially registered.
The magistrate rejected a defence request to allow the parties to approach the bench and discuss the case with him in private.

Defence lawyer Noel Bianco entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of his client and requested bail.

The lawyer submitted that expecting a baby is always stressful to the relationship and that arguments sometimes happened. Threats were a different matter, he said.

The incident occurred when the man had been engaged to do a job at a property that happened to be opposite his wife’s house, said the lawyer. The defendant bumped into her and had asked her whether she was OK, he said.

“There was no violence involved and this does not merit remanding him in custody,” submitted the lawyer.

Inspector Zammit added that the police had found the 7cm long penknife at the man’s house, and that the victim had recognised it. “The victim is scared and the defendant refuses to guarantee that he won’t contact her. The day after the incident, he turned off his phone to avoid police calls and called her up from a friend’s number. 

“He told us that if he had known what we wanted to talk to him about he wouldn’t even have come,” added the inspector.

Bianco submitted that the woman’s recognition of the knife was not proof of anything, arguing that it was obvious that she would know that he owned a small penknife, having lived with him for some time.

The court turned down the bail request at this stage in view of the nature of the charges and the fact that the court was not convinced that the defendant would obey the bail conditions it could impose. A protection order was also issued in favour of the woman, with the magistrate explaining to the defendant that he was forbidden from making any contact with the alleged victim whatsoever.

“Any imaginable way you can think of somehow speaking to her, get it out of your head. Baby or no baby,” warned the court.