Man jailed for six years for conspiracy to murder

Updated:

Carmel Vella, 33, of San Ġwann was this afternoon jailed for six years after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

Sentence was delivered after jurors returned an 8-1 guilty verdict after five hours of deliberation.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said the court had taken into consideration the fact that Mr Vella had given information to the police.

The court had heard that Vella and another man lured Patricia Attard to L-Aħrax in Mellieħa in January 2004 so that they could push her off a cliff. The plan fell through when the woman refused to go near the edge. However, she was found shot dead in her mini-van at Ta' Qali two months later, on Valentine's Day, 2004.

Mr Vella had pleaded not guilty and insisted that he turned down a request to kill the woman for €23,000.

The other man, Josef Grech, stands accused of the murder and is currently undergoing separate criminal proceedings. He is pleading not guilty.