A 36-year-old woman has been acquitted of assaulting her estranged husband and destroying his sunglasses after a court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove either charge.

The case dates back to 30 June, 2012, when the husband went to pick up the couple's children.

The husband had been insisting that one of the daughters should be taken to hospital for examination, and an altercation allegedly took place when he reminded her of this. He claimed that his wife pulled his hair, took his sunglasses, broke them, tried to take his car keys and insulted him.

But the claim that his wife pulled his hair did not feature in his report to the police, and as a result, Magistrate Neville Camilleri declared that there was not enough evidence to find the defendant guilty of assault.

As for the sunglasses, the husband testified that they were worth some €175, and presented an estimate to this effect. But the sunglasses were not presented as evidence - the husband said that he disposed of them shortly after the incident - and the brand of sunglasses mentioned in the estimate was not the same brand he mentioned.

Consequently, Magistrate Camilleri also acquitted the defendant of causing damage to her husband's property.