A woman was remanded in custody on Thursday after pleading not guilty to slashing her partner’s chest with a kitchen knife after allegedly ignoring orders not to approach the man.

A court heard that a tense argument allegedly broke out between the 46-year old cleaner and her partner late on Tuesday evening inside the couple’s Ħamrun residence.

That was when the woman allegedly slashed the man’s chest with a kitchen knife having a 20 cm-long blade, prosecuting inspector Audrey Micallef said during Thursday’s arraignment.

The woman pleaded not guilty to attempting to grievously injure her partner, slightly injuring him, causing him to fear violence, insulting and threatening him as well as breaching the public peace.

The incident apparently followed an earlier episode when the man reported that his partner had wound a belt around his neck, the court was told.

A request for bail was objected to on the grounds that the alleged victim had not yet testified. Moreover, after having been released on police bail in July over a similar incident and warned not to approach her partner, the woman had evidently ignored that order.

Defence lawyer Charmaine Cherrett countered that throughout the couple’s five-year relationship, there had been aggression from both sides.

The woman had since moved out of the Ħamrun property and was living with her mother at Buġibba.

Unless granted bail, she risked losing her job, the woman’s lawyer said, also highlighting the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused.

But after hearing submissions by both parties the court, presided over by Magistrate Nadine Lia, denied bail after deeming the accused not sufficiently trustworthy and also considering the risk of tampering with evidence.

The court issued a protection order in favour of the alleged victim while recommending that prosecution witnesses were to be summoned at an early stage.