198 accused of attempted murder - 80 convicted

Fewer than half of people accused of attempted murder since 2002 have been convicted, figures given in parliament yesterday show.

Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici told Nationalist MP Franco Debono in reply to a parliamentary question that over the past 10 years the police arraigned  198 persons to face charges of attempted murder, but only 80 were convicted.  The penalties included jail, suspended sentence, probation and fines.

Dr Debono also asked Justice Minister Chris Said how many persons had cases of attempted murder dropped by the Attorney General.

Dr Said said assessment of whether there was enough evidence to secure a conviction was made both before arraignments and during the course of court procedures. However there were no statistics of how many attempted murder charges were dropped. 

The police last week dropped attempted murder charges against Sandro Chetcuti, who still stands accused of assaulting and injuring GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia.

People accused of attempted murder are liable for a prison term of up to 30 years on conviction.