A court of law has denied a request made by the estranged wife of Opposition Leader Adrian Delia for him not to see his children.

The court rejected allegations of domestic violence made by Nickie Vella de Fremeaux, allowing Delia to see his children three times a week, which this week included Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  The couple agreed in court that Delia’s access to his children should be unrestricted.

Vella de Fremeaux had filed for separation from her husband of 17 years earlier this year.

The court has prohibited both parties from making statements to the media, but excerpts of  Vella de Fremeaux’s judicial proceedings have been leaked.

Vella de Fremeaux alleged that Delia was violent and abusive towards some of his children who “had also witnessed their father beating their mother”.

Excerpts of the proceedings have been doing the rounds on social media since Christmas Eve, but the court did not give weight to these allegations and rejected the request made by Vella de Fremeaux for the court to prohibit Delia from seeing his children.

In a terse statement issued via the Nationalist Party, Delia said that while noting with dismay the "malicious allegations circulating on the social media", he will be sticking to the agreement reached in court that no public statements are to be made about his separation case in the best interests of the couple's children.

"In no way will I be giving in to malicious attempts to turn this personal issue into a political one," he said.

In another development, Delia received some support from Nicki Vella de Fremeaux’s own brother Michael.

In a comment beneath the post uploaded on Facebook by the PN leader, Michael Vella de Fremeaux welcomed Delia’s statement. “Well said, Adrian,” he wrote. “Certain sections of the media should be ashamed of themselves for exploiting this very difficult and private situation. You continue to have my support and that of my family in this very difficult time.”