Four official witnesses took the stand on Friday, detailing a harrowing pattern of physical and emotional violence in the case of a husband accused of abusing his wife at their home.

Inspector Jacob Farrugia first took the witness stand to present the findings of the victim's official police report, recounting the precise sequence of events.

The incident began in the kitchen around 10:15am while the accused's wife was cooking.

Without warning, her husband grabbed her by the throat and began choking her to the point where she was unable to breathe, while simultaneously striking her repeatedly with his fist. He choked her a second time, while also hitting her on her chest and shoved her with enough force that both of them fell to the floor.

When the woman managed to break away to call the police, the accused grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and started behaving in a manner that led the alleged victim to believe he was about to harm himself. She attempted to calm him down.

He dropped the knife, but as she reached out to secure it, he struck her again on the head and her left hand, knocking her back to the floor.

Throughout the attack, the accused verbally abused his wife and threatened her.

It was noted that this assault was part of an escalating pattern, as the accused had repeatedly threatened during that same month to kill his wife, their children, and himself.

When questioned by the defense on how the evaluation framework operates, the witness explained the scoring process for domestic abuse. The victim's assessment yielded a score of 20, indicating an extreme danger level for ongoing physical and emotional abuse.

Risk Assessment Officer Maria Azzopardi testified next about the evaluation conducted after the victim reported her fear that "he will kill [her] and later he will kill himself."

A representative from the social welfare agency and an additional police witness also testified regarding their involvement in the case.

It was confirmed that the children of the couple were physically unharmed during the incident.

The case continues.