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Criminal charges against Magistrate Monica Vella are to be dropped after she settled pending tax dues. 
She was facing court action after failing to file
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Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti has reassigned all of Magistrate Monica Vella’s criminal and civil case in the Gozo court, with sources saying this was down to slow throughput of work.
The decision was communicated last Thursday when lawyers with pending cases before Magistrate Vella were informed about the change. All civil and criminal cases were reassigned to Magistrate Brigette Sultana except those cases which Magistrate Vella had deferred for judgment.
Magistrate Vella has now been assigned to work at the law courts in Valletta.
Sources said Magistrate Vella had been assigned the bulk of cases that were pending when Magistrate Paul Coppini retired in October 2019. Some of his other cases were assigned to Magistrate Simone Grech.
A man has been handed a suspended jail term after admitting threatening his father with a knife, assaulting him and causing him to fear violence.
The man, whose name is not being published to protect the identity of the victim, at first denied the charges brought against him but changed his plea.
Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard how the incident took place on November 1 in Fgura when the 37-year-old man, who is a repeat offender, assaulted his father during a family argument.
The incident took place when the son intervened during an argument that his father was having with his mother. The couple are having marriage difficulties, the court heard.