I’ll burn you alive, man tells his ex-girlfriend

A young man threatened to burn his ex-girlfriend alive once he got out of jail, a court heard yesterday.

The woman, Graziella Grima, made the claim about Lydon Cutajar, 22, from Cospicua. He stands charged with punching her at Gianpula nightclub early on August 27 and slightly injuring her

Mr Cutajar, who now lives in Marsascala, is the son of Giuseppe Cutajar, known as Il-Lion, who is facing criminal proceedings over the double murder of two men in a Marsascala garage last March.

Wearing a dark suit and shiny black shoes, Mr Cutajar appeared before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale also charged with relapsing and breaching the bail conditions of a previous release.

Under those conditions, Mr Cutajar should be at home every day between 10.30pm and 7.30am the following morning and must not approach Gianpula, the venue involved in his other case.

Ms Grima said her former boyfriend, whom she broke up with about a month ago, had threatened to burn her alive and set fire to her car and her house after he got out of prison.

He allegedly made the threats after she reported him for breaching his bail conditions, which is likely to land him in jail.

On the witness stand, Ms Grima said that on August 27 she was on the dance floor with her friends and a couple of men she didn’t know when, all of a sudden, Mr Cutajar came from behind her and head-butted one of the men.

A brawl ensued but she fled and hid behind a tree “because I am scared of him”.

“Suddenly, I saw him coming towards me calling me a prostitute. He punched me in the face and told me he would make me pay for it,” she said as she recounted how a night with her friends ended up in a visit to the health centre requiring sutures.

The doctor who examined Ms Grima told the court she said she had been punched. She needed around eight sutures on the inside of her mouth. He also referred her to a dentist to see to a dislodged tooth.

The police also summoned Mr Cutajar’s cousin and aunt to the witness stand. They were with Ms Grima when the incident took place but they refused to testify since they are related to the accused.

Police Inspector Kevin Farrugia said Mr Cutajar was hurt during the fight but that it was still under investigation. He expected criminal action to be taken against several people soon.

Magistrate Depasquale said he was going to proceed with judgment but defence lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Kathleen Grima objected, saying they would have liked to summon their client’s friend to shed some more light on the incidents.

The magistrate acceded and deferred the case to Tuesday morning. In the meantime, he remanded Mr Cutajar in custody after a request for bail was denied “due to the seriousness of the charges”.

Lawyers Josè Herrera and Veronique Dalli appeared parte civile for Ms Grima.