Man denies hitting mother-in-law in the nose with a painting

A man has denied hitting and grievously injuring an elderly woman with a painting during a domestic argument over her daughter’s infidelity, a court has been told.

Inspector Robert Vella arraigned a 39-year-old man from St. Julian’s before magistrate Gabriella Vella this morning, accusing him of causing grievous facial injuries to his elderly mother-in-law, slightly injuring his 11-year-old daughter and threatening and insulting his wife and daughter’s mother.

The police had received a report of a disturbance from the home of the accused, who cannot be named due to a court-imposed prohibition, yesterday evening.

It emerged that the man had argued with his wife over an episode of infidelity that occurred ten years ago but which still tormented the man.

During the argument the man had pulled his young daughter by the arm and hurt her. The man had then followed his wife to her mother’s house, where he allegedly threw a painting at her mother-in-law, hitting her on the nose and grievously injuring her.

The accused, a security guard, pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Lawyer Matthew Bondin told the court that the defence disagreed with the prosecution’s version of events, but that this would become clearer as the case progressed.

There had been numerous similar arguments in the past by they had always been resolved peacefully, said the lawyer.

He denied that any violence was used against either daughter or mother-in-law.

The accused had a clean police conduct and was prepared to move out of the matrimonial home pending proceedings, he said, asking for bail.

The court warned the man to stay out of trouble, to which he replied “I want to calm things down and go back to the way we were.”

Bail was granted against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €5,000, on condition that he goes to live at an alternative address. A restraining order, prohibiting the man from speaking to his wife, daughter and mother-in-law was also issued.   

The court prohibited the publication of the name of any of the parties involved in the case.