Man's girlfriend claims he tried to throw her out of the balcony

A Naxxar man locked his English girlfriend in his bedroom to stop her from leaving him and threatened to throw her out of the balcony if she did not go to sleep, a court heard yesterday.

Ellen Bird explained how Thomas Ebejer "just went mad" after she mentioned moving to Malta to live with him but then stopped her from leaving the house and locked her up in the bedroom.

Bird testified before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera in the compilation of evidence against Ebejer, 39, who is pleading not guilty to holding Bird against her will and slightly injuring her. She testified with urgency before leaving Malta last night.

Bird said she had come to Malta for the first time six weeks ago during which time she met Ebejer and they began seeing each other. When she went back to England they maintained contact by phone.

During one of their telephone conversations he asked her to move to Malta and live with him forever so she decided to visit him for a week. Bird arrived in Malta on July 23 and stayed at Ebejer's house.

Last Thursday they went out for a drink and were having a good time until Bird brought up the subject of moving to Malta. She told him that she was willing to move only if she brought her 13-year-old son with her. She also told him that she would get a job.

"Then he just went mad. He just started shouting and said that I was moving too fast. I asked him how come he had asked me to move in if he didn't mean it.

"On our way back to his house I suggested that I should pack up and leave immediately so when we arrived I packed. As I was approaching the stairs to walk down towards the main door he just grabbed my suitcase and threw it down the stairs.

"He then grabbed me, pulled me into his bedroom, threw me on the bed and started slapping me. He locked the bedroom door and told me to get in bed and sleep," she said.

Bird said that she got out of bed and tried to make her way to the door but Ebejer threw her back onto the bed. He told her that if she did not sleep he would throw her out of the balcony.

He even followed her to the bathroom, waited for her behind the door, escorted her back to the bedroom and locked the door.

Later during the night she waited for him to fall asleep and tried to sneak out. She managed to unlock the bedroom door but when she arrived to the main door she could not open it because he had locked it. So she went back to bed because she feared being caught.

Bird fell asleep and when she woke up the next morning Ebejer noticed bruises on her arms and asked her about them.

At this point Bird was asked to show the bruises and removed her jacket to reveal bruised arms. She was explaining that not all the bruises on her arms were caused by Ebejer when Ebejer spoke from the dock and said he had bruised her.

"I told him that he had been too rough with me and then I asked him if he had ever hit a woman before. He told me he had hit an English woman, the mother of his daughter," she said.

Bird explained that they went out every evening after that night and that he kept her under his supervision. She said she was too scared to try to run away again because she feared being beaten.

She finally managed to sneak out of Ebejer's house on Monday night and went straight to the police station to file a report.

The case continues.

Ebejer was meanwhile granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm500.

Police Inspector Dennis Theuma prosecuted.

Dr Vincent Galea was appointed legal aid for Ebejer.