A man serving an 18-year jail term for stabbing is seeking a retrial claiming he had been found guilty on the strength of a police statement made in the absence of his lawyer.

Stephen Pirotta, 46, was, six years ago, found guilty of the attempted murder of David Azzopardi who had accused Mr Pirotta of hitting his car’s side mirror while overtaking. The injured motorist had tried to drive to St Luke’s Hospital but passed out in Ħamrun and was taken to hospital in an ambulance where emergency surgery saved his life.

During police interrogation, Mr Pirotta had admitted stabbing Mr Azzopardi but is now arguing the statement was taken in breach of his fundamental rights because he had not been granted legal assistance. In his application, he submitted that his admission was the crucial piece of evidence on which the prosecution had based its case.

He quoted from a European Court of Human Rights decision, handed down last month, which stated that the denial of legal assistance, even when the subject filed an admission, constituted a fundamental breach.

As for the remedy, Mr Pirotta referred to a 2008 European Court ruling which concluded that the best way to seek redress in such circumstances would be to reopen proceedings and hear the case from scratch. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Amadeus Cachia and legal procurator Gerald Bonello signed the application.