Qormi man pleads not guilty to murder

A 28-year-old from Qormi yesterday denied murdering a man who was shot dead in the early hours of Friday morning.

Stephen Caruana pleaded not guilty to the murder of 28-year-old Neville Baldacchino, who had been shot several times with a shotgun at around 1 a.m.

Defence lawyers told Magistrate Silvio Meli that the incident happened when Mr Caruana - who was asleep at home with his wife and their four children - was woken up by a sound.

He was frightened when he discovered Mr Baldacchino in his home "illegally", according to his lawyers Giannella Caruana Curran, Emmanuel Mallia and Arthur Azzopardi.

According to sources, Mr Baldacchino, who was married and had a four-year-old son, had no intention of stealing property or causing physical harm to anyone in the house.

Wearing dark blue jeans and a cream-coloured sweater, Mr Caruana yesterday stood in the dock and smiled when he was asked to take his hands out of his pockets by the magistrate.

"Why are you laughing? Do you know where you are?" the magistrate asked. Mr Caruana, who is unemployed, was remanded in custody after the magistrate turned down his application for bail.

His lawyers argued that Mr Caruana himself had informed police of the shooting and that he had a clean record apart from two fines for the illegal possession of a bird-caller. Police Inspectors Chris Pullicino and Daniel Zammit prosecuted.