A magistrate this afternoon jailed a man for two days for contempt of court but then forgave him.

The incident happened during proceedings where a man stood accused of threatening his wife on five occasions.

During the sitting, while the lawyers were discussing details of the case the man repeatedly interrupted to dispute some points and also said that he only found out recently that his wife had been in a relationship with another man for seven years and that he was not the biological father of his son. The boy is 15 years old.

The man was accused of having threatened his wife that he would cut off her head.

The magistrate repeatedly told the accused not to interrupt and when the interruptions continued, he ordered the man to be jailed for two days for contempt of court. The man was held at the courthouse lock-up for some two hours before the order was rescinded by the magistrate.

Dr Ludvic Caruana was counsel for the wife and Dr Robert Abela was counsel for the accused.