A man accused of assaulting his ex-wife’s new boyfriend after a Gozo village feast last summer has been spared punishment after the alleged victims and other relatives chose not to testify against him.

The 33-year-old Xewkija man landed in legal trouble following the fistfight in the early hours of a Sunday morning after the Sannat village feast last July. 

It began with an argument over the phone between the accused and his ex shortly after 2.30am, police later told court. The two were in the process of getting separated. 

Less than an hour later, that argument escalated into a physical confrontation between the accused and his wife’s boyfriend at Munxar. Third parties had stepped in to break up the fight. 

The husband was subsequently charged with grievously injuring his wife’s boyfriend, disturbing the peace as well as threatening and insulting his estranged wife. 

He was also charged with misusing electronic communications equipment and harassing his wife and her new boyfriend. 

The man denied the accusations and was granted bail upon arraignment after his lawyer, Franco Debono, highlighted the man’s almost clean conduct sheet and the fact that his ex’s family were showing him their support. 

His father-in-law had even turned up in court during the arraignment, the lawyer noted. 

When proceedings continued, the prosecution summoned the alleged victims and two other relatives who, however, chose not to testify against the accused. 

The only other witnesses were police officers whose testimonies amounted to hearsay evidence and medical professionals who could only testify about the examinations they had carried out on the alleged victims. 

No eyewitnesses were produced to provide a first-hand account of the alleged incident. 

Moreover, under interrogation the accused had opted for his right to silence, giving no reply to most of the questions. 

That meant that the court could not rely on his police statement either. 

Lacking such evidence the court, presided over by Magistrate Simone Grech, observed that the prosecution had failed to put forward the best evidence and had therefore failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. 

The accused was thus cleared of all criminal wrongdoing. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.