A 31-year-old man was this afternoon remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Vince Muscat, 52, known as il-koħħu, in Msida  last month.

Jonathan Pace of Gudja, owner of Tyson Butcher, was also charged with firing a gun in a residential area, damaging a car and being in possession of a weapon.

Lawyer Giannella de Marco appeared for Mr Pace.

In January last year Mr Pace and his wife were ordered by a court to pay  their supplier, Five Effs Import Co Limited, €54,000 for frozen items they had purchased. He was previously ordered to pay Public Broadcasting Services €47,000 for advertising services.

Mr Muscat  had been critically injured when he was shot twice in the head while getting into his car late at night on April 7. He still managed to drive to Msida police station, gasping for help.

Officers gave him first aid and rushed him to hospital, where he was operated upon.

He was discharged from hospital a few days ago.

Mr Muscat is one of the accused in a botched heist on the HSBC headquarters in Qormi in 2010. He is also charged with the attempted murder of PC Kenneth Ciangura and PC Kurt Gauci, trying to rob the bank, stealing a Glock pistol and holding another three police constables against their will.

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