A Tunisian man was yesterday handed a suspended sentence after admitting to beating up his wife in front of their four-year-old daughter after the mother accused him of being lazy.

The man, 31, changed his plea to guilty when he appeared before Magistrate Doreen Clarke. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail suspended for four years. He was also placed under a four-year supervision order.

The incident happened on May 25 at 6.30am at the couple’s house in St Paul’s Bay.

The man is not being named to protect the identity of the woman, whose cheekbone was fractured during the incident.

During the supervision order, the man will be required to attend counselling sessions.

Moreover, she ordered the man not to speak to his wife or any of her relatives for three years, unless it is over matters concerning their young daughter. In court, the man also consented to psychological help for the daughter in view of what she had experienced when she witnessed the incident.

Lawyer Franco Galea, appearing parte civile for the woman, told the court in a previous sitting that this incident was not the first, adding that other, less serious incidents had happened in the past, both in Malta and Tunisia. The two have now separated.

Police inspector Godwin Scerri prosecuted.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti appeared for the man.