A man who is facing criminal proceedings for seriously injuring his wife yesterday told a court that he never injured his wife and added that the coffin he built for her was just “a joke”.

Emanuel Degiorgio, 52, from Marsascala, is charged with seriously injuring his wife Filippa in December by hitting her with a model wooden balcony .

Mr Degiorgio took to the witness stand yesterday to explain that he had been married to his wife for 22 years and they had three children, the youngest being just 11 years old. He said he loved his wife but she just did not want him in her life any longer. He said he would never injure his wife and insisted that he just wanted “peace” at home.

He said he has not worked for 13 years because he had had a workplace accident and was boarded out. Mr Degiorgio said his wife left home around three years ago and, despite his attempt, she would not return home. He said she was very aggressive with him.

When asked about the coffin he had built for his wife, the defendant said it was just a joke, adding that all he told her was that they did not need all this trouble because, at the end of it all, both of them would end up in one of those.

“May God punish me if I’m lying. I love my wife and all I wanted was to live a peaceful life. It was her that got hold of the wooden ornament and she also destroyed my crib at Christmas time. When I tried stopping her, I fell over her and she hit her head. In fact, there was a mark of her make-up on the wall,” Mr Degiorgio told the court while his wife, sitting at the back of the courtroom continuously shook her head in disapproval.

At the end of yesterday’s sitting, Mr Degiorgio, who has now moved out of his matrimonial house in Marsascala and to take up residence in Cospicua, was granted bail against stringent conditions. Primarily, he was ordered not to approach or in any way speak to his wife or his children or any other prosecution’s witnesses.

Police inspector Anthony Cassar prosecuted while Dr Albert Libreri assisted the defendant.