A 'World’s Best Stepdad' t-shirt worn by a woman’s boyfriend in a Facebook photo, allegedly sparked a chain of events which landed her former partner behind bars.

That photo of the woman, together with her new boyfriend and daughter, had irked her ex, the 23-year old father of the estranged couple’s minor child.
“Int bis-serjeta! [Are you joking?]…..M’ghandniex bzonn it-tieni missier bla sens [We don’t need a second nonsensical father]” the accused had messaged his ex, reacting to her Facebook post.

Other threatening messages followed, prompting the woman to report the matter to the police.

In spite of being warned to stop that course of action, the man allegedly persisted.

As the threatening messages escalated, so did the woman’s constant visits to the police station, explained prosecuting inspector Eman Hayman when testifying in the criminal proceedings currently ongoing against the father.

“That ‘famous’ photo appears to have triggered the series of threats,” the inspector said, explaining further how the father had said he had “felt hurt” by the mother's photo.

In one of those messages the accused had allegedly threatened, “nisplodik” [I’ll blow you up].

The man was arraigned in August, pleading not guilty to causing his former partner to fear violence, misusing electronic communications equipment and insulting and threatening the woman beyond the limits of provocation.
He was denied bail at arraignment stage.

When the case continued, a representative of a local service provider also took the witness stand, presenting call profile data from the alleged victim’s mobile phone.

As the hearing came to an end, the court, presided over by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, upheld a fresh request for bail, after observing that all civilian witnesses had testified.

The court issued a protection order in favour of the alleged victim, while warning the accused not to communicate in any manner with any of the prosecution witnesses.

The court further bound the accused under a deposit of €300, a personal guarantee of €5,000 and an order to sign the bail book three times weekly.

The case continues. Lawyers Lennox Vella and Marisa Mifsud were defence counsel. Lawyer Ishmael Psaila appeared parte civile.