A man charged with shooting dead his former partner outside Mġarr at point-blank range has had his eighth request for bail turned down.

Madame Justice Anna Felice ruled Kenneth Gafa, 39, of Marsa, was a “high risk, unreliable individual”.

Mr Gafa has been under preventative arrest since December 2010 after he was charged with the murder of Christine Sammut, who was shot in the neck and chest, in Żebbiegħ while she was in the driver’s seat of a van.

Two spent shotgun cartridges were found on the ground, one next to the driver’s door and the other close to the bonnet.

Madame Justice Felice, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, dismissed arguments made by Mr Gafa’s lawyer that being denied bail breached his fundamental human rights.

The right to bail could never supersede the right of the courts and prosecution to protect society and victims, she said.

The prosecution argued that he was a high-risk individual especially because he had nothing to keep him tied down to Malta. The police had not yet completed their investigation and there was the risk of interfering with the course of justice.

Madame Justice Felice also said that relatives of the victim, including her daughter, had spoken in court of Mr Gafa’s behaviour, which did not put her mind at rest.