A lawyer, who allegedly made a series of threats against former colleagues at a local law firm, sent some 87 pages of threatening mail, a court was told on Thursday.

Bartosz Marcin Adruszaniec, a 42-year old Polish national who ended up a squatter in abandoned premises lacking water and electricity, was back in court after being remanded in custody following his arraignment earlier this month.

He is pleading not guilty to charges of harassment, blackmail and threats, instilling fear in the partners and other employees at the firm where he was formerly engaged on a consultancy contract.

Other charges relate to a simple theft from a shop and an attempted robbery from a private residence at St Paul’s Bay.

“You have now unleashed me,” Mr Adruszaniec had stated in one of his threatening messages to the firm, after his employment had been terminated following reports of “certain behavioural issues.” Colleagues and clients had claimed the man would turn up at work under the influence of alcohol.

Reference was made to some 87 pages of emails and messages sent by the accused who allegedly vouched that he was prepared to go to jail “on[his] life” and threatening with “the revenge of a strong northern lad.”

Read: Lawyer tried to burgle a house in St Paul's Bay, court told

As one of the partners at the firm as well as the HR manager took the witness stand, the court, presided over by magistrate Gabriella Vella, was given an account of the chain of events which escalated to such a degree as to instil fear in the staff. The firm resorted to beefing up security while filing a police report. 

The accused allegedly bombarded his former colleagues via WhatsApp and email, making indirect threats by referring to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and also posting an image of a burnt house with the name of the locality where one of the partners resided.

Matters became even worse when he extended his messages towards one of the partners’ wife, who was told about an alleged adulterous relationship by her husband.

He even allegedly wrote to clients, bad-mouthing his former employers in an attempt to damage their reputation. 

Meanwhile, the court was informed that a relative of the accused, also a lawyer in Malta, had declared that he was not authorised to act on his relative’s behalf and was not inclined to do so.

The case was adjourned to April 25.

Lawyer Graziella Tanti is defence counsel.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti is appearing as parte civile for the law firm.

Inspector Clayton Camilleri is prosecuting.