A 19-year-old whipped his partner with a phone cable and assaulted her four children, including an 18-month-old toddler, a court heard on Monday.

The charges against 19-year old Luke Galea from Siġġiewi date back to September when his partner reported him to the police domestic violence unit over two separate violent episodes that allegedly took place on September 22 and 23. 

The woman claimed that her partner, who was not the father of her children, had beaten her with a phone charger cable, an umbrella as well as a rolling pin at her St Paul’s Bay home. 

The violence was allegedly witnessed by the victim’s children aged 18 months, three, five and six years. 

During the first incident, the accused also allegedly assaulted the minors. The following day, the man allegedly hit the toddler on the face. 

The child was subsequently certified as suffering slight injuries to the forehead. 

When spoken to by officers from Child Protection Services, the minors said  their mother had been whipped with a phone cable by the accused who had also had thrown plates at her. 

Galea was arrested and charged with slightly injuring the mother and her children, assaulting them as well as failing to inform the relative authorities about his change of address. 

He pleaded not guilty. 

Answering questions from the defence, prosecuting inspector Audrey Micallef said that the accused’s partner had not gone to the police station to withdraw or update her report. 

There was no request for bail at arraignment stage but a request to ban publication of all parties’ names. 

However after hearing the prosecutor object to the ban in so far as the accused was concerned - since the couple had only been in a relationship for a year or so - the court, presided over by Magistrate Elaine Rizzo, upheld the ban only for the mother and the minors. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.