A man was cleared of trying to seriously injure his wife after she withdrew the charges brought against him.

Joseph Caruana, 32, of Marsascala, had been accused of trying to seriously injure his wife, Joanna Caruana, at around 9.30pm on 28 November 2004, after he threw a gas cylinder at her.

The woman testified that her husband had been extremely drunk that day.

“He started drinking at 5pm. He then smashed a lampshade on the floor when I said I was going to stay with my mother,” Ms Caruana Bayliss told the court.

She said she called the police and tried to go outside to wait for them. As she was walking down the stairs her husband grabbed an empty gas cylinder and hurled it at her.

The woman claimed the cylinder just missed her but damaged the tiles on the stairs and the inside of the front door. She claimed her husband also threatened to throw the police down the stairs.

In fact, the man was accused of threatening a particular police constable, however the court was told that the husband had said: “If I see anyone in uniform, I will throw them down the stairs.”

Because the threat did not refer to this constable, Caruana was cleared of the charge.

After the incident, Ms Caruana Bayliss said her husband left the house and drove off. Caruana was also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

In another sitting, the woman declared she had no more interest in the proceedings and renounced the charges brought against the

husband.

The court however fined the man Lm100 for driving under the influence of alcohol because he failed a breathalyser test.