Man, 43, charged with attempted murder in screwdriver attack

Xandru Kristin Mamo, 43 of Xaghra, has been charged with the attempted murder of his former partner, in a Gozitan court today.

Another violent case of domestic violence unfolded early Saturday morning in Xagħra, Gozo, when Mamo stabbed his former partner Silvia Zammit in the head with a six-inch screwdriver.

The couple were separated from each other.

The woman, 48 and a mother of one, was brought to Malta from Gozo by a helicopter of the Armed Forces and rushed to Mater Dei Hospital, where she was certified to be in danger of dying.

Sources said her estranged partner had stormed into the apartment after breaking down the door. The woman called the parish priest for help, who in turn contacted the police.

But in the altercation, she was stabbed in the neck behind her ears with a screwdriver. The gravity of the attack was such that she had to be urgently operated upon at Mater Dei Hospital to remove the screwdriver.

Mamo was arrested by the police at a bus stop, when mobile squad officers noticed the man with his 10-year-old son, who was not wearing any shoes. The man, noticing the approaching police car, attempted to hide behind the bus stop. Police however noted that the man’s hands and trousers were covered in blood, and proceeded to arrest him. They said the man also gave them a false name when asked to identify himself. 

A magisterial inquiry is in progress. Police Inspector Frank Tabone is investigating the attempted murder.