Two men who were shot at in a fit of rage welcomed a 25-year jail term given to their attacker yesterday.

“Justice has been done,” Joseph and Redeemer Mifsud said moments after their lawyers emerged from the courtroom relaying the verdict.

‘Justice has been done’- victims

Inside, Mariano Grixti, from Żurrieq, who shot the two men in October, 2005 following an argument over a rubble wall, sat motionless. After glancing at his wife sitting in the public gallery, he rested his head on his folded arms and started crying.

The 50-year-old later felt sick and had to remove his jacket and tie as he came to terms with the heavy jail term.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia rejected Mr Grixti’s claim that he had acted in self defence and said that nobody of normal temperament would shoot someone with a semi-automatic shotgun only because they had thrown stones.

On the day of the incident, Mr Grixti was building a rubble wall in his rented field in the area known as Il-Qortin, Żurrieq. He had taken his shotgun hoping he could do some hunting.

Joseph Mifsud approached him, claiming the wall was encroaching on his property and demanding that the work would stop. This led to an argument.

The shouting attracted the attention of Mr Mifsud’s 15-year-old son, Redeemer, who walked over to see what was going on.

At that point, according to the evidence Mr Mifsud gave during the trial, he was hit in the back by pellets as he was walking away from the argument and he fell down.

His son told the court that he heard Mr Grixti ask his father whether he was still alive and then shooting him again before turning and firing at him too. Mr Grixti claimed that the Mifsuds threw stones at him and that he was overcome with fear.

Mr Justice Mallia said that Mr Grixti could not hide behind excuses of self defence because the hard evidence pointed in the opposite direction. He noted that Mr Mifsud Snr had been shot in the back and that the cartridges lifted from the crime scene indicated that the accused kept moving forward as he shot his victims.

Mr Grixti’s criminal record showed that in the past he had been found guilty of threatening his sister and his mother, a person who is so often the dearest and closest person to anyone. About 80 pellets had penetrated Mr Mifsud’s body hitting every vital organ except the brain. As a result he suffered a permanent disability and was unable to use his hands properly due to the damage done to the ligaments and the muscles of his arms, Mr Justice Mallia added.

Lawyer Phillip Galea Farrugia from the Attorney General’s Office prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Charmaine Cherrett appeared for the victims.

Lawyer Joe Brincat was defence counsel.