Elderly man accused of assaulting his daughter
He claims she attacked him
A man who stands accused of assaulting his daughter was granted bail on Wednesday and allowed to file a police report against her after he claimed it was she who assaulted him.
Police Inspector Christian Cauchi told the court that the adult daughter filed a police report against her father, a 65-year-old pensioner, on Tuesday afternoon.
She claimed that her father grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the ground, and began hitting her after an argument which started because of rubbish bags placed in front of his garage.
The defence countered that the woman had shown up intending to attack her father. The accused had been carrying out maintenance work in his garage when she confronted him. He was arrested before having had time to file a report to the police.
The prosecution objected to bail, arguing that there was a risk that the accused might approach his daughter and assault her again.
“The court needs to send a strong message in these cases of domestic violence,” the prosecution said.
At this point, the defence announced that it had video footage showing that the woman had turned up with other people looking for a fight.
The CCTV footage taken from a residence across the street faintly showed three figures on a staircase in front of a house. Shouting could be heard.
The prosecution pointed out that the date when the footage was taken was unclear and the the video was not clear enough to identify the daughter.
The court granted the accused bail and issued a protection order in favour of his daughter. Magistrate Monica Vella said this would give the accused the opportunity to file his own police report against his daughter. She also requested that the footage shown in court be verified.
Inspector Christian Cauchi and Colin Sheldon prosecuted.
Defence lawyer Anita Giordimaina represented the accused.