Martino Gatt will be spending the rest of his life in prison after jurors yesterday found him guilty of shooting dead his former wife’s partner.

Mr Gatt’s ex-wife, Joanne Bajada, sat quietly in the corner of the courtroom flanked by her parents as she heard jurors deliver the seven-two guilty verdict for the murder of Louis Ellul.

This was the first time Ms Bajada, who has two children with Mr Gatt, had stepped into the courtroom during the week-long trial, the first of the year.

Even though Ms Bajada was present during the shooting, which happened just after Sunday Mass in Pembroke six years ago, as were her children, she did not testify in the trial as the law does not allow spouses to give evidence for or against one another unless they are the victim.

Mr Gatt, 65, sat quietly in the dock, with a plastic bag filled with court documents at his feet.

He chose to defend himself during the trial.

Legal aid lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was yesterday asked to step in to ensure that the verdict delivered by jurors, after five hours of deliberation, was legally admissible.

The jury also found Mr Gatt guilty, by six votes to three, of slightly injuring a 14-year-old girl who happened to be in the area and was hit in the upper thigh by a pellet that did not pierce her skin.

He was unanimously found guilty of possessing a firearm and firing it in a residential area. The prosecution claimed the murder was premeditated and that Mr Gatt had intended to kill Mr Ellul.

Mr Gatt, however, insisted he never intended to kill him and, on the day of the shooting, he happened to have his shotgun in the car as he was planning to go hunting.

Some people’s lives are at risk today because of the way he reasons

He told the court Mr Ellul had used him as a suicide weapon and that he felt remorse on seeing the extent of the injuries he had caused – a large abrasion on his neck and two gunshot wounds to the back and buttocks.

During submissions on punishment, lawyer Lara Lanfranco, from the Attorney General’s office, said she feared society would not be safe with Mr Gatt around.

“It’s clear that, from the way he reasons, anyone who is an obstacle to him will be in trouble and he will feel justified to assist in their suicide.

“I think some people’s lives are at risk today because of the way he reasons. Louis Ellul did not do anything to the accused and he died simply because he started loving a woman,” she said.

Dr Micallef Stafrace noted one had to take into account the context – a family dispute – which meant not all society was at risk.

During his testimony Mr Gatt expressed remorse and the verdict was not unanimous, the lawyer pointed out, saying this ought to be reflected in the punishment.

Lawyer Nadia Camilleri, from the Attorney General’s office, assisted in the prosecution.

Life sentences were also given to…

• Salvatore Mangion for the murder of 54-year-old Rosina Zammit after stabbing her 37 times in Safi in 1984. He received a second life sentence for the murder of Maria Stella Magrin in 1986.

• Tunisians Mohsin Bin Brahim Mosbah and Ben Ali Wahid Ben Hassine after admitting to killing four people on separate occasions in February 1988.

• Joseph Harrington, after being convicted of murdering Sylvia King, who was burnt alive in her car on April 4, 1993 at Kunċizzjoni, limits of Rabat.

• Bertu Ellul for killing three people, including a seven-year-old boy, in a shooting spree in May 1997.

• Libyan Ibrahim Ramadan Chamber Shnishah for complicity in the murder of hairdresser Alfie Rizzo on February 4, 1998.

• Richard Grech, also known as Iż-Żinnanna, for the murder of bank messenger Alphonse Ferriggi, who was killed with a single shot to the head in September 2000.

• Andy Spiteri for shooting Police Constable Roger Debattista as he stood guard outside the Bank of Valletta branch in Qormi in November 2001.

• Ian Galdes Spiteri, who also formed part of a five-man gang that robbed the Qormi bank in November 2001.

• Alfred Azzopardi, who killed Vanessa Grech and her 17-month-old baby girl, Ailey, on November 12, 2001. Their bodies were found in the well of her house.

• Gozitan bus driver Ġanni Attard, for being an accomplice in the 2001 murder of traffic warden Fortunata Spiteri.

• David Schembri for the murder of 32-year-old Josette Scicluna, whom he stabbed 49 times in front of their seven-year-old daughter in May 2004.

• David Zerafa for the murder of Gozitan lawyer Michael Grech in Marsalforn on May 24, 2004.

• Ronnie Azzopardi for causing serious injuries to Angela Bondin in a bomb blast that led to her death on June 18, 2005.