A father of two allegedly threatened to kill his wife and 13-year-old son with a gun he was cleaning, a court heard yesterday.

The 42-year-old quarry worker allegedly pointed a weapon in their direction on Tuesday night at their house in San Ġwann.

According to defence counsel Paul Farrugia, the accused, whose name cannot be published by court order, was cleaning his registered weapons when his son took one of them to play with. His father grabbed the weapon from the boy’s hands and an argument with the wife and the son ensued.

However, Police Inspector Elton Taliana, prosecuting, told Magistrate Doreen Clarke the accused was handling the weapon during the argument and even threatened to kill them.

He conceded that such incidents were usually dealt with in the district sittings but, given the serious threat, the police felt it had no option but to arraign the man under arrest.

Mr Taliana said the couple had been married for 15 years and, although there had been arguments between them in the past, it never went this far.

The two also had a seven-year-old child.

The accused was granted bail against a deposit of €300 and a personal guarantee of €1,500. The court also issued a protection order in favour of the wife and the teenager and ordered the accused to move to another residence until the case is concluded. He will live with his parents.