Man is in custody because he threatened his former partner and is under a protection order

A 36-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday. He is accused of threatening and intimidating the mother of his child.

Police Inspector Omar Zammit posed the man, who told the court he lived in a boathouse in St Thomas Bay, before Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo and accused him of threatening, harassing and insulting the woman, breaching a protection order and reoffending.

The inspector said the man continued to threaten his former partner despite the protection order. A risk assessment was carried out and concluded the woman was in “extreme” danger.

The defendant, who told the court that he was self-employed, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Defense attorney Matthew Xuereb asked the court to release the man on bail.

Inspector Zammit opposed the application in view of the outcome of the risk assessment, the seriousness of the crime and the fact that civilian witnesses had yet to give evidence. The man already had a criminal record, the inspector added.

The man began to cry and sniffle loudly in the courtroom when Xuereb told the judge that a social worker assigned to the defendant had recommended that he be given custody of his two children.

“Perhaps it is time we heard both sides when preparing risk assessments,” the lawyer noted, requesting that the defendant's Appogg caseworker be subpoenaed at a future meeting to testify about his conduct.

The court remanded the man in custody because the case was at a very early stage and reasoned that it was not convinced that he would comply with the bail conditions it would otherwise impose.