A man has been denied bail after allegedly sending threatening messages to his estranged partner.

The 55-year-old Birżebbuġa man was taken to court under arrest and pleaded not guilty to harassing and threatening the mother of his two-month-old son, causing her to fear violence by texting her and doing all he could to track her after she moved out of their home.

Prosecuting inspector Eman Hayman, from the Domestic Violence Unit, along with district officer Inspector Joanna Piscopo, also charged the man with misusing electronic communication equipment.

The court heard that trouble started when the accused’s partner decided to take up a job, entrusting the baby with a third party who was not deemed trustworthy by the accused who insisted on caring for the child instead.

The accused financially supported both mother and child and things were fine until trouble broke out over this work issue, lawyer Mario Caruana told the court, adding that the man also cared for his 90-year-old mother.

The court heard that last week after the alleged victim moved out to a safe house, the accused texted her  “frightening messages”.

On Friday, the situation escalated as messages from the accused kept pouring in, threatening to beat her up because she had taken away his “own flesh and blood,” with reference to their child.

On Saturday, the man roamed Cospicua in search of his partner, allegedly also threatening her other adult children, Inspector Hayman explained.

After hearing submissions by both parties, Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, declared that it was premature to grant bail at the arraignment stage since the main witnesses were still to testify.

The court thus remanded the accused in custody, urging the prosecution to summon those witnesses without delay.

Lawyers Lara Dimitrijevic and Stephanie Caruana appeared parte civile.