Domestic violence sometimes starts when separation proceedings begin, as pent-up anger escalates, according to women’s organisations, which call for support to continue even when reconciliation fails.

It’s about time that support, such as mediation . . . does not stop when the couple cannot reconcile

“It’s about time that support, such as mediation, which is imposed by law in cases of separation, does not stop when the couple cannot reconcile,” said Renee Laiviera, from the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations.

Catherine Agius

She explained that a couple would be going through a very stressful time during separation and should thus be offered counselling aimed at managing their anger and solving internal strife.

Ms Laiviera was speaking in the wake of this week’s case in which 49-year-old Roger Agius was jailed for 31 years after he admitted to stabbing his wife, Catherine, with a butcher’s knife on a Tarxien bus stop in 2009.

Evidence indicated that Mr Agius had hit his wife in the past but the situation only escalated after she filed for separation.

Mr Agius, who admitted to having a drinking problem, said in court he felt under pressure both because of the separation proceedings and also because he felt his wife was trying to take all his property.

Grace Attard, from the National Council of Women, echoed the concern expressed by Ms Laiviera saying that she had spoken to several women who first experienced domestic violence after they filed for separation.

“The partner would feel that the situation is unjust and, as anger builds up, it manifests itself in violence,” she said.

Asked to comment on the punishment in the Agius case, both Ms Attard and Ms Laiviera agreed that the 31-year jail term was within the legal limits, especially considering the man’s admission.

Mr Agius faced life imprisonment but, by law, the judge could hand down a jail term of between 18 and 30 years if certain criteria were met. A guilty plea was one of the criteria.

In his judgement on Tuesday, Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano said he would go beyond the 30-year threshold to send a warning to those who thought they were free to attack their partners at will.

“We don’t feel vindicated by the jail term because our aim is to stop domestic violence . . . The council distinguishes between the man and his actions and the punishment need not be life imprisonment so long as justice is served,” Ms Attard said.

She said such cases should make the authorities more aware of the importance of early intervention, stressing that victims and their relatives should know where to find help.

The Agius case, Ms Attard added, also highlighted the need of early police intervention and immediate action by social services.

Agreeing with her, Ms Laiviera said: “The sentence is appropriate . . . Here Mr Justice Quintano is sending out a very clear message that nobody can take the law into their own hands irrespective of the stress that people are going through.

“This is important because the harm has not only been done to the dead wife and mother but to members of the families concerned, including the parents of the ex-spouses and, particularly, to the children who have not only lost a mother, experienced the trauma of domestic violence and murder but also lost a father through the latter’s own doing,” she said.

The three teenage children of Mr and Mrs Agius said earlier this week they believed their father deserved life imprisonment because he had robbed them of their mother. The sentiment was shared by the ­­­­victim’s sister.