A Gozo court cleared a man of slightly injuring his former girlfriend by dragging her into his car after the woman withdrew her complaint.

Magistrate Joseph Mifsud ruled that the police were in duty bound to respect the wishes of the complainant. The woman’s father wanted the police to proceed with the case but, the court pointed out, a family member had no juridical interest in the proceedings.

The ex-boyfriend, whose name is not being published to protect her identity, was charged with causing slight injuries to the woman, breaching his bail conditions and relapsing on June 4 at about 4pm.

The accused ran into the woman near Ramla bay as she was walking to her car. He allegedly dragged her into his car, drove to Xagħra, where they spent an hour trying to talk through their differences.

Later, the woman filed a report at the Victoria police station and presented a medical certificate indicating she suffered slight injuries in the incident. However, she withdrew the report the following day.

In such cases, the law clearly laid down that the complaint by the injured party was necessary for the police to proceed. Though police did well to take immediate action, they should have respected the woman’s wishes once she withdrew the report before the man was arraigned, the magistrate ruled.

Police Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Angie Muscat and Joseph Grech represented the accused.