A baptism party appears to have been the spark that caused a violent fight in Ħamrun on Sunday, landing a man in preventive custody after he pleaded not guilty to his alleged involvement in the incident.

The 28-year old unemployed man from Ħamrun, whose name is not being published to safeguard the identity of his partner, one of his alleged victims, had slightly injured the woman during a heated domestic row that broke out at the couple’s home on Sunday morning.

The matter did not stop there, prosecuting Inspector Wayne Camilleri explained.

The man returned to the apartment at around 6.15pm, when a fight broke out, during which a neighbour was slightly injured.

During the arraignment on Tuesday, the man pleaded not guilty to slightly injuring his partner, voluntary damaging third-party property, slightly injuring a man who lived nearby, being in possession of a sharp and pointed weapon, as well as breaching public peace.

Defence lawyer Yanika Bugeja requested bail, pointing out that her client had also suffered injuries and had acted in self-defence, adding that the alleged victims were familiar faces and were “in and out of court”.

Moreover, the incident had been sparked off when the man was ordered out of his home.

One could not simply force a person to sleep on the streets, the lawyer argued, adding that, unfortunately, the current handling of cases of domestic violence was going “beyond reason”.

The prosecution countered that the accused had turned up at his Ħamrun home after being barred from going there. Not only had he breached that order, but had also been armed with a sharp instrument. He had been to and fro all day, the spark to the row apparently having been a baptism party involving his partner.

Besides, many civilian witnesses were still to testify, the prosecution said.

In light of such submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace, denied the man bail and remanded him in custody.