Defence lawyers for the man who allegedly held his wife captive in an underground chamber in October want psychiatrists to see if victim is still unfit to testify.

The man, Roddy Williams, had allegedly kept his wife captive in the dark chamber beneath Fort Ricasoli for three days.

The lawyers of the 37-year old Seychelles-born husband of Nathalie Williams made their request following the delivery of a decree denying him bail.

Nathalie Williams

This decree was delivered in chambers by magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, currently presiding over the compilation of evidence, after a psychiatrist last week confirmed his earlier certificate that the victim was ‘currently unfit to testify'.

Psychiatrist David Cassar had been asked to supply additional details regarding the woman’s mental health, which he did when taking the witness stand behind closed doors.

Following that testimony, the magistrate had decreed that at this stage it would be inopportune to grant bail.

However, in an application filed today before the Criminal Court, Mr Williams’ defence team have claimed that release from custody pending trial was a fundamental human right and that the issue had acquired more urgency in view of the fact that their client was still behind bars almost three months since his arraignment.

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Meanwhile, his estranged wife had twice testified under oath during the inquiry and had even filed for personal separation, personally presenting a sworn application in court.

Referring to the psychiatrist’s diagnosis, the defence argued that the patient had suffered ‘absolutely no physical symptoms’ as a result of her sleep and anxiety problems, pointing out that besides the minimal symptoms to which the psychiatrist had made reference, ‘Nathalie Williams is leading a perfectly normal life.’

Although afforded the possibility of testifying via video conference, to avoid facing her husband in the courtroom, Ms Williams has still ‘resisted’ appearing in court, denying the accused the ‘right to cross examine the witness which is of paramount importance considering her radical change in testimony’, the court was told.

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In the light of such circumstances, the defence requested the court to appoint one or more independent psychiatrists to determine whether Ms Williams was truly unable to testify. A fresh request for bail was also made.

The woman’s pending testimony in court has been strongly disputed during the past sittings, with the accused’s defence team arguing that the woman is unwilling rather than unable to testify in her former husband’s case.

However, the prosecution has rebutted that the issue of bail hinged not merely upon the fact that the victim, the star witness, was still to testify but also because other conditions for bail had not been satisfied.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Yanika Vidal signed the application.