A man was this evening accused in court of the attempted murder of his lover's husband and his four-year-old son as well as the attempted grievous bodily harm of another woman.

The court was told that the accused and a woman, 28 had been having an affair for about a year. She had been trying to break off the relationship. Yesterday morning while the woman was out at Zejtun with her son, she got into an argument with the accused. He assaulted her,  broke her mobile phone and smashed her car's windscreen.

In the afternoon he went to her apartment in Kalkara, smashed the front door using a gas cylinder and left.

The accused then saw the woman, her husband and their son passing by and thought they were heading for the police station. He therefore drove wrong way at the man and his son in an attempt to run them over, but crashed into a car driven by another woman.

No one was injured.

The accused pleaded not guilty and no request for bail was made. Prosecution and defence agreed that he should be sent to the Forensic Unit of Mt Carmel Hospital pending a psychiatric report which should be drawn up within a week.

Inspector Robert Sarreo prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri appeared for the accused.

Updated January 20, 2023: This article was amended following a privacy request. For more information contact editor@timesofmalta.com