A magistrate yesterday refused to lower the €15,000 bail deposit imposed on the Mġarr murder suspect, Kenneth Gafà.

Mr Gafà, 39, from Marsa, is accused of murdering his former partner, Christine Sammut, when he shot her at point blank range on December 11, 2010.

He has been in custody ever since. He was granted bail on August 30 against a deposit of €15,000 and a personal guarantee of €25,000 but he filed an application asking the court to make the bail deposit more affordable.

Magistrate Antonio Vella rejected the request despite complaints by defence lawyers that their client had already spent 20 months in jail, the maximum period one can remain in preventive custody. Mr Gafà was arraigned again last week and charged with defrauding Ms Sammut’s father of about €12,000 in the months before the murder.

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