A 52-year old stonemason charged with unwanted sexual advances towards a woman 20 years his junior was denied bail upon his arraignment on Wednesday.
The Żebbuġ man, whose name was banned under court order to safeguard the identity of his victim, was escorted to court under arrest.
He denied charges of harassment, including subjecting the woman to an act of physical intimacy with sexual connotations and seeking sexual favours.
The act allegedly took place four days ago at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and the 32-year-old woman went to the police on Tuesday.
That three-day lapse was pointed out by the defence when making submissions on bail.
Prosecuting Inspector Roderick Agius told the court that, when questioned about the allegations, the suspect was visibly trembling and then broke down in tears, admitting that he had erred.
The alleged victim turned up in court on Wednesday, assisted by lawyer Edward Gatt who said that the woman was “terrified” of the accused.
The man was also charged with committing the alleged offences while under a suspended sentence as well as relapsing.
A request for bail was objected to in view of the fact that the alleged victim was still to testify.
The fear of tampering with evidence was “real and tangible”, argued the prosecutor.
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca countered that the evidence was preserved, pointing out that the woman had only gone to the police three days after Saturday’s incident.
Moreover, the next day the woman and the accused met at their usual meeting place.
The prosecution’s fear had to be well-founded, argued the lawyer, adding that the accused would abide by all court conditions if granted bail.
However, after hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace, denied bail explicitly in view of the fact that civilian witnesses were still to testify.
Inspector Roderick Agius prosecuted. Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Ana Thomas were also defence counsel. Lawyer Edward Gatt appeared parte civile.
This article was amended to remove a statement that said the man was charged with 'non-consensual sex', rather than 'non-consensual sexual acts'