Martino Gatt, the man who stands accused of the murder of his wife’s partner in Pembroke six years ago, told a court this morning that he had never intended to fatally shoot Louis Ellul but was overcome by four years of ‘provocation’.

Testifying in his own defence, Mr Gatt explained what had happened before and after the shooting.

He said that on the day before, he rented a car for the weekend, as he normally did. He had decided to go hunting in Bidnija but found a police car there and called it a day.

He left his shotgun in the car as he intended to go hunting again the next day.

In the morning of the next day, a Sunday, he remembered that his son wanted to buy some statues so he decided to give his some, as he had not seen him for months,

“I love my children. They are my treasures,” he told the court.

While driving towards Pembroke he stopped in Bahar ic-Caghaq to load the shotgun after he saw a bird  

He drove on  to Pembroke but did not find the children there (at his former wife’s house) so he went to the playing field just in case they were there but there was no one.

He then noticed his former wife and children in acar that drove by towards the church.

He waited, and after Mass saw them coming out of the church.

He noticed that Louis Ellul was pushing his son.

Since Mr Ellul had threatened him in the past, he grabbed the shotgun, covered it with a piece of material and walked towards him.

Ellul noticed him as he got close to his own car.

Gatt said he told him he was there to see his children.

“I was scared of what he could do, so when I saw him getting closer to his car, I shot him. I do not know if I hit him. I ran off and he came towards me angrily, so I fired another shot to scare him away. I aimed high because I did not want to shoot him. Maybe I moved a bit and shot him in the neck and he fell to the ground.

“I thought I had not hit him and he fell to the ground because he was scared. When I saw my ex wife and children coming towards me I told them to leave. I ran to the car and as I was about to cross the road, I turned  and fired another shot, without the intent to hit him.

“I did not see any people around me at the time.  I then got into my car and left,” Gatt said.

He insisted that had he intended to kill Ellul, he would have waited for him next to his garage in St Paul's Bay and not endanger his own children.

He had gone to Pembroke solely to see his children. 

Mr Gatt said his former wife and the Louis Ellul had filed a number of  false reports to the police to try get him into prison.

One incident went back to 2006 when they ended up at a police station after he went to pick up his children in St Julian's and Mr Ellul and his ex-wife ‘created trouble.  

“They provoked me several times. I twice tried to sell my shotgun before the (Pembroke) incident” he said.

After the Pembroke shooting he said he  drove to Rabat and stopped at St Dominic church, where he knelt before a crucifix and cried.Then he drove to Girgenti.

“I did not want to hurt him. I prayed for him, before the shooting and even afterwards. I could not get his provocations out of my head. I kept everything bottled up for four years,” he said. 

After Girgenti he went to Siggiewi and bought a beer and was picked up by the police.

He said the victim had “committed suicide because how can you expect to play with fire and not get burnt.”

Ellul, he said, had  destroyed his  family and tried to stop him from seeing his own children.

“I had married a young woman because I wanted children. The treasures I wanted so much led to where I stand today.

“I was desperate to see my children,” he said, adding that he was still unable to see his children.