A man who allegedly tried to strangle his partner and threatened to kill her cats was denied bail on arraignment on Tuesday.

Oscar Olsen, a 28-year-old from Sweden who told the court that he worked “to help people with gambling problems,” was charged with attempting to harm his partner, causing her slight injuries, holding her against her will and wilfully disturbing the public peace.

The incident allegedly started on Saturday night when the couple were watching television and drinking alcohol at a friend’s place.

Olsen took his partner’s mobile phone and suddenly turned aggressive when he discovered that she was chatting with other men, the court was told. 

His reaction prompted neighbours to call the police, while their friends tried to calm down the accused, explained Inspector Sherona Buhagiar.

Olsen then headed home.  

His partner followed and went to sleep. But around 3am, she was rudely awakened by the man’s banging on her door.

Again he took her mobile and then tried to strangle her, doing so some “ten times” throughout that night. He also allegedly called her “a whore”, a “slut,” and other offensive names, and threatened to kill her pet cats, the inspector said. 

Around 7am the woman typed a Facebook message to the police, calling for help.

“He’s going to kill me and then kill himself,” read the message.

Minutes later, she communicated again with the police, telling them that she was in hospital.

When police went to her, the woman recounted what had happened throughout the night. 

The accused pleaded not guilty.

His lawyer, Franco Debono, requested bail, pointing out that the accused had lived in Malta for six years and had a fixed job. Besides, his version of events appeared to be “totally different.”

The accused claimed that his partner had triggered the argument and he had acted in self-defence.

Moreover, she went back to his residence after the incident.

The prosecution rebutted that the reason why she went back to his home was to feed her cats.

The woman had tried to find a place at a shelter but she was not allowed to take along her pets.

Moreover, the accused possibly had mental issues which could make his behaviour unpredictable. This was not the first incident of its kind, the prosecution explained.

And the victim was still to testify too.

Magistrate Charmaine Galea turned down the request for bail in light of the nature of the offences, the fact that the alleged offences took place in a domestic environment and also because the alleged victim was still to testify.

AG lawyers Manuel Grech and Etienne Savona prosecuted, together with Inspector Sherona Buhagiar.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Adriana Zammit were defence counsel.