Drunk son evicted from house after beating elderly mother

A habitual drunk who lives with his 89-year-old mother has been given 20 days to find somewhere else to live after a court was told that he had terrorised the woman, beating her up and causing her to move out into a garage.

The 54-year-old man, who lived with his mother and 59-year-old brother in Paola, was ordered to vacate the property after a court heard that he had assaulted the elderly woman during one of his frequent bouts of drunkenness.

The mother had told the court, presided by Madame Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland, that the accused would become uncontrollably abusive when under the influence of alcohol. Her account was corroborated by the accused’s elder brother.

Things came to a head on 1 April, when the son beat his mother so severely that she required hospital treatment as a result. Upon being released from a 24-day hospital stay, the mother found that her youngest offspring was still living at her residence. Fearing another beating, the elderly mother moved into a nearby garage.

The accused did not enter any submissions on his behalf.

Condemning the “intolerable and abusive” situation whereby a mother had effectively been bullied out of her own home, the court noted that, at law, the son had no claim to the mother’s rented property and was living there by mere tolerance, solely through the mother’s good will.

It ordered the man be evicted from the property after the lapse of 20 days.