A 62-year-old man, whose name cannot be published by court order, was acquitted of seriously injuring his wife with a knife.

The court said it had only been presented with “hearsay evidence” into the alleged incident which took place on August 26.

During court proceedings it emerged that an argument broke out while the couple were discussing the possibility of initiating separation proceedings.

Police Inspector Christabelle Chetcuti, prosecuting, had told the court that during the argument, the man had grabbed his wife’s iPhone and smashed it on the ground. He then opened the kitchen drawer, got a knife and started threatening her with it. As he was waving the knife, he allegedly hit her on the hand, slashing two of her fingers.

The victim had also spoken to the police that two months before, her husband had allegedly placed a knife against her neck in the presence of two of their three children.

However, the incident was not reported to the police, with the wife saying she feared her husband and was also worried she would lose custody of the children.

In its judgment, the court said that even though an incident had effectively taken place, all it was presented with was just “hearsay evidence.”  

It noted that apart from the accused, the only witnesses in this case were his partner and their three children who all had declined to testify.

In view of this the court presided by Magistrate Doreen Clarke acquitted the man.

Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Charlon Gouder, Joseph Gerada and Mark Vassallo appeared for the accused. Lawyer Abigail Critien, appeared parte civile for the woman.