A jilted husband, struggling to come to terms with the fact that his estranged wife had found another man, was granted bail on Tuesday after being accused of threatening his ex and her new partner on Facebook.

The a 38-year old self-employed Finnish national residing at Sliema, resorted to Facebook over the past weeks, posting messages against his wife, who had entered into a relationship with a Maltese man and had since filed for divorce, a court was told.

Matters seem to have come to a head at the weekend when the angry husband posted death threats against his ex’s new lover, prompting the police to intervene.

“We are still married!” the arrested man remarked loudly in court when Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit asked him whether the relationship with his wife had ended.

The man pleaded not guilty to offending his ex’s boyfriend, uttering death threats in his regard while pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment of his wife and boyfriend.

When making submissions on bail, defence lawyer Noel Cutajar pointed out that this case centred upon a relationship issue sparked off by the fact that his client was “angry and upset” over the breakup of his marriage.

As to the alleged death threats, “writing is one thing, actually doing it is another,” Dr Cutajar continued.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol pointed out that, in fact, the police had searched the man’s home and had come across no weapons.

In view of the fact that the prosecution raised no objections to bail, so long as strict conditions were imposed, the court upheld the defence’s request granting bail against a deposit of €800, a personal guarantee of €5,000 and an order to sign the bail book three times weekly. The man was also placed under a curfew between midnight and 6m and was strictly warned to steer clear of the couple in terms of a Protection Order valid until final judgment.