A domestic argument over a woman’s alcoholism has led her husband to be charged with violent indecent assault with a chocolate wrapper against the woman after he lashed out, thinking he would “teach her a lesson.”

Police Inspectors John Spiteri and Kylie Borg charged the 55 year old man from Siggiewi with grievously injuring his wife, violent indecent assault, causing her to fear violence, as well as insulting and threatening the woman.

Inspector Spiteri told Magistrate Doreen Clarke how after an argument, sparked by the woman’s failure to clean the house after buying two bottles of vodka, the man had violently inserted a chocolate wrapper in the woman’s private parts, causing her serious injury.

Lawyer Michael Tanti Dougall argued that the situation was more complex. He claimed that the man’s alcoholic wife had invited his client to have sex after consuming alcohol, trying to cover the smell of it on her breath with chocolate, hence the chocolate wrapper. “[by the gesture] He meant that you cannot cover the smell of alcohol with chocolate. ‘You have a problem, you can’t drink and then try to cover it up’,” said the lawyer.

The accused pleaded not guilty. Bail was requested.

In his submissions on bail, the inspector said the circumstances were serious, agreeing with the defence that the incident was “an unfortunate one for both parties.”

The prosecution didn’t deny that the woman had an alcohol problem, saying that the woman had admitted to that herself. But because of the alcohol problem, the accused had decided to show that he had enough and had caused his wife abrasions and lacerations of a grievous nature in the process.

The couple’s son was present in the house at the time of the attack, said the inspector.

Inspector Spiteri objected to bail due to fear that the accused would tamper with evidence, as the son might choose to testify against his father, going on to describe the incident as “inhuman and unacceptable in today’s society.”

The defence pointed out that the son had been in a different part of the house at the time of the incident and that the man had not tried to rape the woman, as insinuated by the prosecution.

The accused had been stationed abroad for a long time and his wife had developed an alcohol problem, he said. She had bought two bottles of vodka, and the wife had taunted him “precisely because she is sick with alcoholism,” argued Tanti Dougall.

The court however, denied bail due to the nature of the offence and the risk of tampering with evidence.

The court imposed a ban on the publication of the names of the parties involved.