Diane Abela, the daughter of the accused, 45-year-old Angelo Abela, took the stand yesterday with facial wounds that seemed very recent. She had stitched, swollen wounds under her right eye and on the side of her head.

Evidence presented by the prosecution alleged that the accused had been finding money and objects missing from his house ever since his daughter, the witness, had been going out with a young man with a drug habit.

Ms Abela had, in fact, taken Lm900 from her father by writing out two cheques out of his cheque book. Two rings belonging to the wife of the accused were also missing. As he noticed that the garage keys were missing as well, the accused decided to wait by the garage door in his truck.

Inspector Nadia Lanzon said that the accused saw his daughter and her boyfriend arrive and try to get into the truck in which he was hiding. They were not able to do this as the truck was locked from the inside so the couple then tried to get into Mr Abela’s boat.

This is when the accused got out of his truck brandishing an iron pipe with which he hit his daughter over the head. He also attacked her boyfriend who was trying to run away, injuring him slightly.

Diane Abela said that they had been trying to get into the truck and then the boat for shelter from the cold.

In her testimony, Diane Abela said that she had left her boyfriend and had forgiven her father. She said that her relationship with her father has improved and living under the same roof as him would not put her in any danger.

At the end of yesterday’s sitting, magistrate Lawrence Quintano ruled that enough evidence had been presented for a bill of indictment to be drawn up against the accused and the case to go to trial.