Nazzareno Briffa, 49 of Birkirkara, was this afternoon found not guilty of the attempted murder of Peter Borg on July 22, 2009.

He was, however, convicted of causing grievous bodily harm when he shot Borg outside his farmhouse. The jurors found that Briffa had acted because of a sudden passion at a time when he was not in the right frame of mind.

Judgement will be handed down on Tuesday by Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano

The verdict was delivered after a week-long trial by jury.

The jurors had heard how the two argued in a bar and Briffa then went home, grabbed a shotgun and went to Borg's farm on the Birkirkara by-pass. He shot twice at a Banif billboard and then shot Briffa when he came out to see what the noise was about, seriously injuring him in the head.

During pleas on punishment, defence lawyer Edward Gatt and prosecuting lawyer Maurizio Cardona disagreed on which article of the law applied in this case.

While the defence said that the punishment could not exceed six months imprisonment, the prosecution argued that Briffa may be imprisoned for two thirds of the punishment for grievous bodily harm. (six years instead of nine years).

Dr Gatt pleaded for clemency, saying the court should consider that his client had been provoked. He appealed to the court not to impose an effective jail term.