Spurned lover remanded in custody for threatening former partner

The man is alleged to have smashed his former girlfriend’s windscreen with a car jack and to have threatened to blow her and her daughter up

A spurned lover, who allegedly smashed his ex-girlfriend’s windscreen with a car jack and threatened to blow her and her daughter up, has been remanded in custody.

29-year-old Larkin Scicluna of Ħaż Żebbuġ was arraigned before duty magistrate Gabriella Vella accused of criminal damage, causing the woman to fear violence against her and her daughter, insulting and threatening her, breaching the peace and driving without a licence or insurance.

Inspector Alfredo Mangion explained that an argument between the two over the man’s mobile phone had got out of hand. The inspector explained to the court that the man had told the police that he would “smash her teeth in” if she approached him again. He had allegedly also threatened to “blow up” the woman and her daughter.

Lawyer Kathleen Grima, defence counsel to Scicluna, said that the accused and the woman had been in a relationship for two years and that the defendant had been raising the woman’s child as his own. Up until two weeks ago everything had been fine, she said, but the alleged victim had taken the man’s mobile phone. The man wanted it back for privacy reasons, speaking off the argument.

The lawyer claimed that Aġenzija Appoġġ – the national agency for children, families and the community – had consistently accepted the woman’s version of events, taking it to be gospel and classifying the man as “high-risk”, despite never having spoken to him.

She told the court that the man’s mobile phone contained documentary evidence, recordings and other evidence which are crucial to the defence.

Inspector Mangion, however, argued that the risk assessment issue was secondary. “What worries me is that the accused is already on bail. It appears that the two argued over gifts he had given her before they split up and then he smashed her windscreen.”

Scicluna was granted bail back in 2015 after being caught in possession of half a kilogramme of cannabis resin and some cocaine.

The defence didn’t want the accused to be denied bail over an inflated story by the parte civile, Grima said, adding that he was prepared to submit to protection order.

The court, however, denied bail, deeming the accused untrustworthy in view of the teeth-smashing threat. He was remanded in custody.