Drunk Libyan threatened to slit his daughter's throat, court told

A 39-year-old man from Tripoli, who had been living in Malta for 23 years, has been remanded in custody after he was arraigned before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli this morning, accused of threatening and harassing his wife and children whilst under the influence of alcohol.

The man, who is not being named to protect the identity of his wife and children, denied the charges, which included carrying a knife in public, breaching the peace, breaching the peace and being drunk and disorderly in public.

Inspector Josric Mifsud, prosecuting, told the court that the man's wife had called the police when her drunk husband had said that he was going to slit their daughter’s throat.

Defence lawyer Daniel Buttigieg made a request for bail, which was objected to by the prosecution.

Inspector Mifsud objected, however, telling the court that aside from the grave nature of the charges, the accused had threatened his own family and was a habitual - and violent - drunk.


Buttigieg argued that bail should not be refused bail, pointing that he was presumed innocent until proven guilty and that bail cannot be denied merely to prevent another potential incident.

The court, however, turned down the request for bail. Following a request by the defence, the court recommended that the accused be given assistance to address his problem with alcoholism.