A man who, earlier this year, had just avoided prosecution for harassing and threatening his partner, landed behind bars on Monday after allegedly repeating his wrongdoing.

MarJohn Spiteri, 41 of Swieqi, was accused of harassing, threatening and insulting his partner, causing her to fear violence.

He had faced identical charges in January, but was let off the hook when he  patched things up with his partner, to the point of being allowed back into the family home.

However, the situation soon deteriorated once again, prompting the woman to file a fresh report, a court was told.

Prosecuting Inspector Matthew Spagnol pointed out during Monday’s arraignment that the man had bombarded his partner with calls and messages while the latter was at the police station filing her report.

After the accused pleaded not guilty, defence lawyer Peter Fenech insisting that the prosecution’s case rested on “a very flimsy accusation.”

However, the request was objected to by the prosecution who pointed out that the arrested man lacked trustworthiness, referring to his criminal record sheet and past incidents when he had persisted in turning up at his family home in spite of orders to the contrary.

Dr Fenech countered that his client would abide by court orders and had an interest in safeguarding his job which would be placed at risk should he be denied bail.

However, Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras turned down the request for bail observing that the man was unable to offer the necessary guarantees.

Moreover, the magistrate placed the man under a Protection Order which barred him from making any form of contact with the alleged victim pending the proceedings.