A 40-year-old man has been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of his estranged wife in a domestic violence incident in Żebbuġ yesterday.

The victim’s father, who was charged with threatening his daughter’s husband with a pipe and damaging his car, was granted bail.

Both men, Elton Debono, 40, from Qormi and his father-in-law Paul Buhagiar, 66, were arraigned separately this after afternoon before Magistrate Monica Vella.

The court heard how Mr Debono and his wife had been at loggerheads for some time after filing for separation.

Inspector Roderick Agius told the court that yesterday’s incident was triggered by a series of threats which Mr Debono allegedly sent in the morning to his wife from his mobile phone. The prosecution said that the husband threatened to kill his wife and their daughter.

Some hours later the man turned up at his wife’s residence in Żebbuġ. She decided to let him in in an attempt to defuse the situation. But the situation escalated and the man slashed his wife’s arm twice with a knife, slightly injuring her.

The court heard that the woman went to file a report at the Żebbuġ police station accompanied by her father, but met her husband on the way.  Brandishing a metal pipe, Mr Buhagiar threatened Mr Debono and caused more than €1,165 in damages to his car.

During pleas for bail, the prosecution insisted that Mr Debono should be remanded in custody for fear of further clashes. Inspector Agius noted that both parties were still bickering outside the courtroom.

“My concern is that if he is granted bail, we will be back in court over a much more serious crime,” the prosecution told the court.

On his part, defence lawyer Geoffrey Vella admitted that his client was “short-tempered” but pointed out that his wife had been taunting him over the huge debts they had accumulated during their marriage.

In its decision, the court rejected the bail request due to the seriousness of the charges and ordered Mr Debono to get anger management treatment while in prison.

On the other hand, Mr Buhagiar was granted bail against a number of conditions.

Lawyer Michael Sciriha appeared for Mr Buhagiar, and was parte civile for the victim in Mr Debono’s case.