Wife found not guilty of hitting husband with a stone

Diane Celeste, 31 of Valletta was today acquitted of charges of having hit her husband on the head with a stone on July 9, 2004.

Inspector Malcolm Spiteri told the court that Mr Celeste had told the police that he had seen his wife loitering for purposes of prostitution in Aldo Moro Road, Marsa. He went to speak to her and an argument ensued, during which he was hit on the head with a stone or some other hard object.

Mrs Celeste denied her husband's claims and pleaded that she had been at the petrol station in Marsa when her husband turned up and they had an argument. She ran away but he chased her and assaulted her even though she was seven months pregnant.

The court said there was insufficient evidence that Mrs Celeste had hit her husband but the wife had acted in self-defence. The court also expressed disapproval over the fact that Mr Celeste had not been arraigned in connection with the incident.