Man found guilty of attempted murder

A jury yesterday found Emanuel Zammit guilty of attempted murder by six votes to three.

After five-and-a-half hours of deliberation, jurors in the 10-day trial, characterised by conflicting versions of the incident, found Zammit, 65, of Cospicua guilty of the attempted murder of Michael Angelo Fenech, also known as Il-Kelly, in Madliena on February 23, 1998.

They also found him guilty of holding Fenech against his will by seven votes to two, the possession of a firearm at the time of the commission of the crime by six votes to three and unanimously found him guilty of firing a gun in a residential area.

Jurors returned an eight-one guilty verdict for keeping and carrying a firearm and ammunition without a licence and a seven-two guilty verdict for failing to pay value added tax and duty on a sub-machine gun and failing to inform the authorities about its possession.

Zammit was unanimously acquitted of stealing court exhibits, including the sub-machine gun from the strong room at the law courts on the night between September 18 and 19, 1993, and acquitted of handling stolen property by eight votes to one.

Jurors unanimously agreed to ask Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia to take Zammit's age and health condition into consideration on handing down judgment.

Defence counsel Emanuel Mallia, who is representing Zammit with Giannella Caurana Curran, rose to make his submissions on punishment and noted that jurors had returned the minimum verdict for the attempted murder charge.

He too asked the judge to take his client's age and health into account and to consider the minimum punishment and give Zammit a suspended jail term.

But senior counsel to the republic Mark Said, prosecuting, said the jurors, and therefore society, had found Zammit guilty of attempted murder and the punishment should reflect the nature of the crime.

Mr Justice Valenzia put off the case for judgment to this afternoon.