A 45-year-old father has avoided immediate prison time after pleading guilty to a series of gruesome threats directed at his former partner and her new partner, as well as her children.

The accused was charged with harassment and causing fear of violence to his former partner and children as well as misusing electronic communication networks to threaten and insult her.

The incident began when the accused's former partner filed an urgent report with the police following an argument she had had with the accused.

The prosecution described a series of voice recordings the accused had sent to the victim, which documented the accused using extreme and foul language.

In the recordings, the man threatened that if he saw his former-partner and her new boyfriend together in public, he would kill them both. He explicitly stated that he was not afraid to hurt her new partner in front of her, threatening to turn him into "mince".

The threats continued even as the victim was seeking help. While she was on her way to the police station to finalize her report, the accused called her directly, threatening that if she caused him to be sent to prison, he would kill both her and her children.

Following his arrest, which was not contested by the defence, the 45-year-old was brought to court on Friday and pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him.

The courts took into consideration the accused had a relatively clean criminal record prior to this incident.

The court sentenced the man to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for four years. He was also ordered to pay a €1,000 fine.

To ensure the safety of the victim, the judge issued a strict protection order in favour of his former partner, only allowing contact to be made surrounding matters that involved their shared children.

This case was presided over by Magistrate Nadia Helena Vella.

Prosecution was led by Inspector Audrey Micallef.

Lawyer Silvan Pulis appeared for the defense.