A man who beat his estranged wife with a fridge’s electric cable while their seven-year-old son looked on has been handed a suspended sentence.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello ruled that the actions of the 42-year-old Mosta resident, whose name is not being published to protect the identity of the victim and the minor, were not tolerable in society.  

The incident happened in February 2022 when the man repeatedly hit the woman with the cable and plug.

She suffered injuries to her face, back, torso and arms. He told the court that he was in the process of separating from his wife and claimed she was seeing someone else. The woman denied this claim.

She told the court she was in bed with her son when she suddenly heard noises coming from downstairs.  When she went down, she saw her husband smashing things on the ground. He then proceeded upstairs and woke up their son, to ask him where his mother was going in the evenings. 

When they went downstairs, despite her efforts to leave their son alone, he pushed her onto the sofa, grabbed a wire with a plug at its end and began hitting her with it. She told the court the boy was shaking with fear.

She managed to call the police, who arrived in no time.

Her father, who lived with the couple, was watching television downstairs at the time of the incident. He told the police that he saw his daughter's estranged husband throwing things out of the fridge onto the ground, then storm upstairs.

He heard his daughter screaming and then witnessed the violence downstairs, as he tried to leave the house with his young grandson. His daughter ended up with a black eye, he said.

During his interrogation, the man said that he around three weeks before the incident, he received a letter from his wife’s lawyer, requesting a separation.

He said he worked long hours for his family to live comfortably but refused to reply to any questions related to the incident.

In her judgment, Magistrate Montebello ruled that there was no evidence of any provocation and there was no explanation for his violent actions.

Such aggressive and violent behaviour has no place in society, should not be tolerated and deserves a suitable punishment that serves as a deterrent, the magistrate said.

The message had to get through that violence against women, as well as any violence in a domestic unit, is deplorable and should be severely condemned, the magistrate said.

She therefore condemned him to nine months in jail suspended for two years, ordered him to pay €525 in court expenses and issued a protection order in favour of the woman.

Police inspector Sherona Buhagiar prosecuted.

Defence lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb represented the accused.