A woman was given a six-month jail term suspended for a year for assaulting her partner with a knife following an argument that started because she wanted to leave Malta to head back to Brazil, her home country, with their 10-month-old child.

The 26-year-old Brazilian woman was charged with assaulting and slightly injuring her partner and causing him to fear her in the Mellieħa apartment where they were living on the night of January 14. 

Magistrate Joseph Gatt heard Inspector Antonello Magri testify that on January 15 at about 2am the victim filed a report at the police’s domestic violence unit in Floriana against the woman with whom he had a 10-month-old child.

They had been together for just over a year.  He said that, that evening, they were at home in Mellieħa and they had an agreement because she wanted to leave Malta and go back to Brazil. He objected as she did not yet have a Maltese visa and could not leave the country, especially since she wanted to take the child.

She threatened to set fire to his personal belongings and then she grabbed some clothes and set them on fire. When he extinguished the fire, he was holding the child and she assaulted him with a knife and mobile charger and he suffered slight injuries. 

She was arrested and released on police bail as she was still breastfeeding the child. The inspector said that she cooperated with the police and this was a one-time offence. The inspector said that the couple were no longer living together in the Mellieħa apartment that belonged to a relative of the man's. After the incident, she moved out to live with some friends and he went to live with his father.

On hearing her guilty plea, the magistrate handed down the suspended jail term – following an agreement between the defence and the prosecution. 

Lawyer Edward Gatt, who represented the father, said that they did not object to a suspended sentence adding that this court case would be followed by a civil case for the custody of the child. 

The magistrate issued a protection order binding the woman not to approach the victim. There could, however, be communication and contact between them if this was in relation to the child. 

Lawyer Martina Herrera represented the woman.