A Marsascala man was fined Lm100 for driving while under the influence of alcohol but cleared of hurling a gas cylinder at his wife.

The man, 32, had been charged with committing several offences which included trying to seriously injure his wife with the cylinder and driving recklessly while drunk on November 28, 2004.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how on the day in question, the wife had filed a police report saying that her husband, who suffered from an alcohol abuse problem, had turned violent.

As she managed to escape his grip and ran down the stairs he hurled a gas cylinder at her but did not hit her. When, soon after, the police arrived on the scene her husband drove away.

The magistrate heard the woman declare she was renouncing criminal proceedings against her husband and, as a result, the defence and the prosecution agreed to drop the charges of attempted injury.

The magistrate found the accused guilty of driving while drunk and banned him from driving for15 days.

On noting his clean criminal record and the advice given by a probation officer, she also recommended that he should not be dismissed from his place of work because of this case.

Police Inspector Anthony Cutajar prosecuted.