A 36-year-old man has been acquitted after it transpired that the criminal complaint filed by his girlfriend could have been blown out of proportion due to tensions running high.
Kurt Buttigieg was accused of causing his girlfriend to fear that violence would be used against her, causing fear and inflicting verbal abuse upon her. He was also accused with threatening to commit a crime to the detriment of the victim, voluntary damage to the woman's property and relapsing.
The incident took place on 21 June 2014, at around 6pm, when the woman broke off a relationship with the accused. In the court's considerations, it noted that since the incident was a result of a lover's quarrel, the complaint filed at a police station by the woman was likely blown out of proportion due to emotions running high.
In fact, during a court hearing on 15 April 2015, the woman made a request to have her criminal complaint stricken off, and to renounce criminal proceedings against the accused. She did so due to the pair still being an item and living together, and also made a request to halt criminal proceedings.
She told the court that while the events described in the complaint she filed were true, she felt that she had rushed in her decision to file a formal complaint. This is further underscored by the fact that she called the accused one day after filing the complaint to reconcile.
The courts, presided over by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, noted the temperament of the accused who often went from calm to nervous. Bugeja also noted the accused's testimony where he spoke of breaking an intercom but had admitted to it and paid €700 to have it replaced.
Bugeja observed that the testimony from both sides and evidence put forward could not satisfactorily prove the charges brought against the accused leading to Buttigieg's acquittal. Lawyer David Gatt represented the accused.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2A0EfHv
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