A 70-year-old man from Żebbuġ was handed a suspended sentence after a court found him guilty of seriously injuring his estranged wife during a domestic violence incident in April 2019. 

The court heard the woman testify that the incident happened as she was about to leave the house. Even though her former husband did not live there since he had left the matrimonial home, he happened to be outside the house when she was leaving. 

She said he began hitting her, punching her haphazardly and kicked her several times in her stomach, fracturing her finger in the process as she tried to shield herself from the assault. 

Medical court expert Mario Scerri noted that the finger was broken in such a way that it will never return to normal.

A representative from the police Victim Support Unit said they were following the woman since they were informed of the trouble between the couple and the victim was scared of her estranged husband because he was violent with her. 

The man testified that it was his estranged wife who first slapped him across the face when she told him she was not going to sign the separation papers. He admitted that he had two other cases over similar incidents with his former wife. 

Magistrate Monica Vella said she would not be taking note of the nephew’s testimony after ruling that he was not a trustworthy witness, since his version of events was not corroborated by any of the other witnesses. 

The magistrate rubbished the man’s account that he was acting in self-defence because the evidence showed otherwise. 

She jailed him for 18 months suspended for two years and issued a protection order in favour of the victim. She warned the man that he would be fined €2,000 if he molested his estranged wife again within a year. 

Police inspector Alfredo Mangion prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit were defence counsel.