A man has been accused of harassing his former partner just two days after the woman secured a restraining order against him.
The 42-year-old stevedore from Fgura was arraigned in court on Friday and charged with harassment and misuse of telecommunications equipment, as well as with breaching a restraining order and committing an offence while under a probation order.
He denied all of these charges.
Inspector Audrey Micallef told the court that the alleged victim reported the man to the domestic violence unit, telling the police that he was calling her incessantly about their child, despite a court order dictating that he should not contact her.
Micallef said that the man was arrested after a warrant was sought and that he cooperated with the investigation, noting that he refused to consult a lawyer before being interrogated, against the police's recommendations.
However, after being hospitalised on complaints of chest pains, the man caused a scene at Mater Dei when he resisted being discharged back into police custody.
Objecting to a request for bail, Micallef said the accused could not be trusted and that there was a real risk that he would commit another crime. She also said that the man had admittedly very few means and was currently residing at a homeless shelter, leaving him with no fixed address.
Legal aid lawyer Martina Herrera said that his residential status should not be a factor in deciding bail as other defendants have previously been granted bail while staying at the very same homeless shelter.
Despite having recently found a job, Herrera also asked the court to consider that the man was still struggling with money and this should be kept in mind should the court impose a deposit for bail.
However, in light of the fact that the alleged victim was yet to testify and considering that the man was accused of committing serious crimes two days after being issued a probation order, the court rejected the request.
This apparently did not sit well with the accused, who piped up to tell the court directly that it had only "heard one side of the story".
The tantrum did not stop there, with the man kicking benches while in the courtroom and continuing to protest loudly with the police outside, even hitting the door of the courtroom before being led away.