Yana Mintoff and her son had at first been treated as suspects and interrogated it emerged in under cross-examination in the compilation of evidence against Gheorghe Popa, her former lover turned aggressor.

However, on the basis of all evidence gathered during investigations, onsite inquiries and all circumstances considered, the inspector had believed Ms Mintoff’s version and was ‘morally convinced’ that he had taken the right decisions.

Answering questions by defence lawyer Benjamin Valenzia, the woman again recalled her ordeal on the night of October 24, 2016 when her Romanian ex-partner had allegedly attempted to stab her in the course of a violent row sparked off by suspicions that she intended to break off their two-year relationship because she was interested in someone else.

Testifying, Ms Mintoff recalled how on that fateful evening towards 9pm, she had rushed upstairs at her Tarxien home to collect Mr Popa’s belongings. Halfway downstairs, reaching the landing with a half-closed suitcase, she was met by the man wielding a knife.

In those tense moments, she tried to reason things out with him but to no avail. Allegedly, the man first stabbed her on her left arm and then, as she fell to the floor, attempted to stab her in the chest.

Her son Daniel, alerted by the shouting, rushed to his mother’s rescue, and ended up suffering a leg wound as the aggressor allegedly turned the knife upon him.

The court also heard how in the fortnight preceding the aggression, the accused had allegedly talked his way back into the woman's home and life by claiming that the apartment he shared with fellow workers had been rendered uninhabitable by an explosion. Ms Mintoff explained how she had offered her former partner temporary refuge inside her home.

During today's sitting before Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, Inspector Spiridione Zammit, who handled the investigations following the aggression and subsequent arson at the Mintoff residence, also testified under cross-examination.

While confirming that Mr Popa had suffered the most serious injuries out of the three persons involved in the alleged stabbing incident, he declared that the alleged aggressor had never told the police whether his wounds had been inflicted by someone other than himself. Nor had the man tendered an explanation to the medical expert, Mario Scerri.

The latter had reported that Mr Popa’s wounds “might have been” self-inflicted. This did not mean that they were essentially so, the defence lawyer pointed out.

Although it had been alleged that the accused had been depressed and possibly suicidal in the weeks before the incident, court appointed psychiatrist Anton Grech had testified that the patient was not in a depressed state upon examination and was "fit for interrogation".