(Corrected)

A man who was sentenced to jail for verbally insulting his wife has had the punishment reduced to a €58 fine on appeal.

45-year-old Victor Pace had insulted his wife during a late night argument at their flat in Birkirkara on April 29 last year. He was sentenced to a one-month detention in November.

Sitting in the Criminal Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano said that the court was convinced that Mr Pace had committed the crime.

The court noted that he had also been subsequently found guilty twice of arbitrary exercise of a pretended right and was conditionally discharged for six months in both judgements.

In 2006, he was sentenced to jail for another crime (which was not committed against his wife).

Chief Justice De Gaetano warned Mr Pace that the law courts could not tolerate continuous breaches of the law especially in a domestic context.

However, the nature of the case this time round did not merit a prison term and his prison term was revoked.