Amalia Pariciani, a 64-year-old woman from Zabbar who lives in Rome, admitted in court today that she had hit a man with a saucepan and then punched his mother and damaged their shop because of evidence which the mother had given in court. She also caused €750 in damages to their shop. The case happened yesterday at noon.

The court was told that Mrs Pariciani's family had a civil court dispute with the Zarb family of St Paul's Bay.

Karen Zarb had given evidence in connection with the case. Mrs Pariciani then went to look for her at her residence. She did not find her, but was told that she owned a shop, Teddy's Detergent Shop in St Paul's Bay and therefore went there.

On walking in she asked the attendant whether his surname was Zarb, and when he answered in the affirmative, Mr Pariciani pulled out a small saucepan fro her bag and started hitting him on the head.

She also started to pull down shelving.

When Karen Zarb came out from a room at the back of the shop to find out what the commotion was about, Mrs Pariciani asked her whether she was Karen, and when she said 'yes', she punched her in the face.

She also threatened both persons.

Legal aid lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar told the court that the accused was paying for the damages.

The court handed down a conditional discharge of two years and placed the victims under a protection order. Mrs Pariciani was ordered to pay €2,000 as a guarantee that she would not approach the victims again.