A man wanted by police for skipping bail landed under arrest after his partner reported him over a violent incident in which she suffered facial injuries.

The 32-year-old Rabat man had allegedly failed to sign the bail book for six days in a row after being granted bail in a different case in June. 

On May 17, his partner, bearing visible facial injuries, filed a domestic violence report.

That report led investigators to track down the man who as he was not residing at the Rabat address where he was registered for bail purposes. 

On Monday, the man, whose job entails inspecting water leaks, was charged with slightly injuring his partner, insulting and threatening her, breaching bail conditions and relapsing. 

He pleaded not guilty. 

A request for bail was objected to not only because the accused had previously been granted bail while appealing a three-year jail term for fraud and theft, but also in view of his criminal record.

“Unfortunately he’s violent and has a drug problem. That’s what caused him to commit one crime after another,” argued Inspector Godwin Scerri.

“He is not trustworthy,” he added.

There was also a real fear of tampering with evidence since the alleged victim was still to testify, Inspector Sherona Buhagiar pointed out. 

The accused had gone back to the victim’s residence even after she had reported him to the Domestic Violence Unit. 

Moreover, he had breached various bail conditions. 

Not only did he fail to sign the bail book, but he allegedly committed another offence, was staying at another address and was out past curfew when the nighttime violence allegedly took place.

Defence lawyer Yanika Bugeja countered that the accused - a diabetic patient - had medical certificates to explain his failure to sign the bail book. 

Moreover, he had issues with his mother and that was why he had moved out of her Rabat home. 

But he had a fixed job and an alternative address in St Paul’s Bay. 

After hearing submissions, the court presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, turned down the request in view of the risk assessment, the reported facts, the accused’s criminal record and drug addiction which made him untrustworthy.