A man accused of the 1993 murder of Vittorio Cassone at a restaurant in St Julian's did not commit the crime, a jury has found. 

The man, whose name cannot be published as he was a minor at the time the crime was committed, was found not guilty of murder by unanimous vote, following several hours of deliberation by a jury. 

The jury also voted to acquit him of various secondary charges by a vote of 7-2. 

For the past fortnight, jurors had attentively followed as both the defence and prosecution made their case in a trial which revisited an armed holdup at the Italian restaurant Chef Italy in St Julian's more than 20 years ago.

In the course of the hold-up Antonio Cassone, who was standing behind the counter, was shot and died on the spot.

The main line of argument of the defence was that all the witnesses called forward to testify were never 100 per cent certain of the identity of the aggressor. The first inquiry following the murder did not produce any conclusive evidence, with police therefore opting not to arraign the accused at the time.

It was only ten years later, in 2003, that the case was reopened by the newly set up Homicide Squad.

Although the defence insisted throughout the proceedings that the only certainty of the case was the uncertainty of the witnesses, the prosecution argued that all the witnesses had identified the accused. They declared themselves to be 99 per cent certain only because they feared their own safety, prosecutors argued. 

Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Anne Marie Cutajar prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel. The court was presided by judge Antonio Mizzi.