Man charged with injuring, threatening father and etching obscenities on his car
The father filed a report with the Domestic Violence Unit
A 26-year-old self-employed man was accused of pushing and injuring his father, as well as etching obscenities on his father’s car.
The Mqabba man appeared before Magistrate Astrid May Grima, where he was accused of causing his father fear that violence would be used against him, threatening and insulting him.
He was also accused of slightly injuring his father and breaking the man’s glasses, which cost €760. The man was also accused of breaching the public peace.
He was meanwhile accused of causing €1,500 in damages to his father’s car in a separate incident.
Police inspector Audrey Micallef explained that on April 15, the man’s father went to the Domestic Violence Unit and filed a report in which he described “the tortures he suffered at the hands of his son for the past six years”.
The father told the police that his son has a cannabis addiction, and the situation got worse at home.
On the day he filed the report, the man was exiting his house when the accused approached him from behind and allegedly punched him in the head, causing the alleged victim to fall into a scaffolding outside the house, sustaining slight injuries and damaging his glasses.
The man also detailed “continuous threats and insults”, including a warning that he would burn down the father’s residence, where the accused also lives.
The father reported a separate incident from May of last year and showed the police pictures of his car. The tyres had been slashed, and a big stone had been thrown at the windscreen, shattering it.
The car’s wipers were broken, and “f’għ*** kemm għandek” was scratched onto the car bonnet.
In court, the man said he “is guilty of the accusations made by my father”. But the court did not accept the guilty plea.
Legal aid lawyer Silvan Pulis made no request for bail, saying there was no alternative address for his client.
He also requested the court to send a communique to the Legal Aid Agency so that a new lawyer is assigned to the case in view of the derogatory comments made against him.
The man was remanded in custody.
Magistrate Astrid May Grima presided.
Police inspector Audrey Micallef prosecuted.
Legal aid lawyer Silvan Pulis assisted the accused.