A court dropped a slew of domestic violence charges against a 45-year-old man after his alleged victim pleaded for leniency because she had forgiven him. 

The couple, whose names and personal details cannot be published by court order, appeared in front of Magistrate Victor George Axiak on Friday. 

Police inspector Christian Cauchi told court the woman was well-known to him as she had filed several reports against the father of her 19-year-old son.

The man, he said, has a drug problem that is causing him to "terrorise" his partner of 23 years, constantly asking her for money to fund his drug habit and trashing her house to cause her fear. On occasion, the accused was even known to have taken his partner’s mobile phone to sell it for drug money, the inspector said. 

The police compiled a three-page charge sheet accusing the man of a slew of domestic violence charges, recommending prosecution and a protection order in favour of the victim. 

However, before the man could even answer to these charges, his partner asked to address the court to explain that she wanted to forgive him and intended to continue their relationship. 

“I want to drop these charges because I know he has a drug problem and he’s not doing these things because he wants to. He just needs to address this problem,” she said. 

“I have a 19-year-old son and I believe this is the best thing to do for my family and his own good. Going to prison isn’t going to solve anything, he needs to go to rehab.” 

As the prosecution and the defence negotiated on how the man could be released from custody and facilitate accommodation for him while he waited for a spot in a rehabilitation programme, the accused sat silently. He did not utter a word throughout the proceedings. 

The man had been attending sessions with Caritas and was attempting to address the problem. However, the waiting list to get into a residential programme was very long. He was in the meantime being followed by a social worker. 

Somewhat hesitantly, the accused’s mother also came to his defence.

“I would like him to come live with me because he’s my son, but I don’t want him to sell things from my house. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep him,” she said. 

“I have been saying he needs to go to rehab for a long time but all I hear is that there are waiting lists. I think serious cases like this one should be prioritised and he cannot just leave after a week because he’s fed up with it.” 

The defence argued that the man would not benefit from going to prison because it was likely that he would be bumped further down the list to enter a rehabilitation program.

However, the prosecution said it was not convinced that the man could be trusted to continue attending a programme by himself: if the case was dropped, he could not be ordered to go to rehab. 

Before deciding, the court turned to the victim to make sure that she fully understood the consequences of dropping the charges. 

“You are taking on a huge burden and placing another one on us,” he told her. 

“Because if something else happens after we leave here today, I think we’re all going to feel responsible.” 

She said that she understood, but she believed that her partner was committed to addressing his drug problem. 

After hearing both sides and ensuring that the victim understood the implications of her request, the court decided to drop the proceedings. 

Lawyer Nicholas Mifsud appeared for the accused.