Court goes ahead with domestic violence case despite partner’s forgiveness
A woman said she forgave her partner for allegedly committing violence against her but a court insisted that it would not be dropping the charges against the man.
A 41-year-old chef from Floriana was arraigned in front of Magistrate Joseph Gatt yesterday, accused of causing his partner to fear violence, threatening and insulting her, as well as causing her slight injuries in an altercation, among other charges related to domestic violence.
Police inspector Sherona Buhagiar told the court how a woman, the accused’s partner, came to the police’s domestic violence unit and said that, for three days, the man had been constantly threatening her, claiming that he told her he would “end her life”, “kill her and her grandson” and “put her six feet under”, among other colourful threats.
Buhagiar also said the woman told the police that her partner had also grabbed a broomstick and threatened to kill her again, telling her that he would leave no marks so that she wouldn’t be able to report him.
The woman also brought with her a medical certificate showing that she had suffered slight injuries following an altercation with him.
However, when stepping up to testify in court, the woman told the magistrate that she did not wish to testify against her partner and wished to cease all charges against him.
When Gatt asked her whether this was the first time violence had erupted between them, the woman replied that it was not.
“I see in the risk assessment you have been marked as high risk for further incidents,” Gatt challenged her gently.
“But when these things happen, it’s only when he’s under the influence,” she said. “It’s the drugs and the alcohol that make him do these things because otherwise, he is a good man.”
Defence lawyer Mario Mifsud said that the law gives the court discretion to drop the case if the victim decides they do not want to testify and, in this case, given that there was no physical evidence in the way of CCTV footage, for example, the case would become a lame duck without the woman’s testimony.
Magistrate Gatt said that the contents of the risk assessment report of the victim prepared by Aġenzija Appoġġ should not be ignored in these circumstances, particularly as it was alleging that it was not the first time such an incident had happened between them.
“The law gives discretion to the court on the matter and, today, the court, based on what it has seen and heard, cannot with a clear conscience say that it is in the victim’s best interest for these proceedings to stop,” he said.
Magistrate Gatt also said that, given the nature of the accusations and his belief that the accused is not capable of sticking to the court’s conditions, bail would be denied.