A 31-year-old man has been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to charges of having slightly injured a former partner of his.

The man – who has a history of domestic violence – was also accused of breaching his bail conditions and of breaching the conditions of a protection order, when he approached his ex-partner, who lives at a different residence, and with whom he has a minor child.

The court heard how, on the night of 1 September, the accused had found the victim abusing drugs in front of their child, and intervened in such a way as to stop the child from witnessing this. The accused, too, has a drug problem, the prosecution said.

The prosecution objected to bail being given, since witnesses, including the victim, were still to testify.

The defence, however, argued that a balance had to be found between the accused’s right to be presumed innocence, and the prosecution’s objections to bail due to its concerns.

After hearing both sides, the court denied bail, for the sole reason that the alleged victim still had to take the witness stand. It requested that the victim be asked to testify at the next sitting.

The case continues.

Inspector Josef Gauci prosecuted.

Lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar was legal aid for the accused.