Sending people to jail is not a solution, a magistrate said yesterday.

Carmelo Tanti, 57, of Paola, was given a 13-day jail sentence after he was found guilty of slightly injuring his wife, threatening a police inspector and being drunk in public on July 25.

The incident started at their home and continued at the local police station, when Mr Tanti was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Mr Tanti was arraigned two days later and was remanded in custody. He appeared in court again yesterday, meaning he had already been imprisoned for 13 days. After handing down judgment, Magistrate Antonio Mizzi remarked that the courts were not there to jail people and that doing so was not the solution.

He warned Mr Tanti not to do anything foolish again because the punishment would be far harsher next time.

He had already been jailed for seven days for something similar and now it was 13 days.

If he broke the law again he could easily be jailed for 130 days. Thus, he had to be careful.

Police Inspector Jurgen Vella prosecuted.

Lawyer Patrick Valentino appeared for Mr Tanti.