Murder trial postponed to after Christmas

A judge yesterday postponed the trial by jury of a man accused of murder, as the proceedings would probably have stretched into the Christmas holidays.

The trial of Charles Demicoli, 33, accused of murdering a Philippino at Cherries Bar in Birżebbuġa in 2000, was supposed to have started on December 1, but due to administrative problems it was deferred to yesterday.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia deferred it again to April 27 after taking into consideration that the proceedings would be lengthy and that the jurors would most likely have had to be sequestered over the Christmas week.

Mr Demicoli stands charged with killing Perfecto Roberio Montalban who was in Malta aboard a ship.

A fight had allegedly broken out inside the bar which escalated causing Mr Montalban to suffer serious head injuries which later resulted in his death.

The accused is out on bail.