Woman seeks to drop ex-partner’s case for fourth time despite plea to police
'Now when he kills me, then you will do something' alleged victim told police, before forgiving her ex-partner
A woman asked a court to drop charges against her former partner for the fourth time despite previously telling police they would only act after she was killed.
The woman insisted she forgave him, adding she never expected the situation to "go this far" as she had never filed a report against him.
Neil Portelli, a 30-year-old man from Mosta, was arraigned in court on Tuesday, accused of breaching several court orders, including a restraining order, a protection order, a probation order and bail conditions.
He denied all charges.
Police Inspector Sherona Buhagiar told the court how, on May 31 at around 11pm, police officers from the Domestic Violence Unit were told that a woman had gone to the Mosta police station with a bag containing a ring and love notes.
The woman said she found the bag outside her home, and told the police that Portelli had contacted her on Telegram and had also seen him at a mass meeting at the Floriana Granaries, where he approached her and "made a show of her".
Buhagiar said the woman threw the bag into a rubbish bin, and before leaving the police station, told the officers: “Now when he kills me, then you will do something”.
Due to the serious allegations, Buhagiar had ordered the immediate arrest of Portelli.
The prosecution said Portelli was under a strict court order prohibiting any contact with his ex-partner, who is a key witness in several ongoing cases against him.
The defence told the court that the accused was under the influence of alcohol, but the inspector said she was not informed about this.
The woman’s lawyer told the court that she wanted to forgive the accused and to drop the proceedings, yet Buhagiar said the charges concerned breaches of court orders and could not simply be withdrawn since none of the charges was directly about the woman.
The woman told the court she had not filed a report and had not expected the situation “to go this far”. The woman said she only wanted to return the items she had found outside her home to her ex-partner.
The court also heard that when Portelli was arrested, the body-cam footage captured him saying, “call her, call her, she’ll come and forgive me, because that is what she did last time.”
Regarding this, Buhagiar said the woman had told her that if she refused to forgive him, his family would “not leave her in peace”.
On her part, Magistrate Ingrid Bianco asked the woman if she felt she needed protection from the accused, to which the woman replied: “Regarding the ring, no”.
Previous reports
Buhagiar told the court that this was the fourth time the woman had made similar reports against the accused.
Due to this reason, the court decided to continue the case and noted that the charges were tied to alleged breaches of court orders rather than the complaints made by the woman.
The court also took into account the previous reports she made against the accused.
The defence requested bail, which the prosecution objected to, highlighting that Portelli had been granted bail only a week ago in a seperate case involving similar allegations concerning his former partner.
The court denied bail and warned the accused to take court orders more seriously.
Inspector Sherona Buhagiar prosecuted.
Portelli was represented by lawyer Nicholas Mifsud. The woman was represented by lawyer Anthea Zammit.