I am against capital punishment, but whenever a brutal murder like that one committed by David Norbert Schembri happens I start doubting my conviction.

Last week the nation was shocked. The reports coming out of the jury of Mr Schembri traumatised, angered and horrified people. The savage cruelty shown by him must be alien even to the realm of beasts.

The brutal murder

This was the scenario.

Josette Scicluna, 32 years old, was at home with her seven year old daughter. She had prepared dinner for her little girl. They were talking. Probably they were smiling at each other. The peaceful loving moments between a mother and her child were broken by loud banging on the door. Shots then followed. The door broke down. David Schembri comes in gun in hand. He was Josette’s former partner and the girl’s “father”. It was not the first time that Josette suffered violence at the hands of her partner. During her pregnancy she was hospitalised twice because of his violent behaviour.

But what happened on that ill-fated night made all the previous violence pale into insignificance.

He started stabbing Josette in front of his and her own daughter. He did not stab her once or twice or trice. He stabbed her 49 times! He stabbed her all over her body. Schembri stabbed her in the genital area, chest and face in order to disfigure her. Blood was all over the place.

The couple’s daughter was in hysterics, screaming and jumping up and down. A neighbour took her away to another flat.

Mission accomplished, Schembri, according to a witness walked out soaked in blood, "arranged his hair" and calmly said with a blank look on his face, "you can call the police now".

Still against capital punishment

My position against capital punishment was not the result of study but of watching a film. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “A Short film about killing” is a masterpiece. It’s a longer version of his other masterpiece Decalogue 5.

The Polish director narrates the story of Jacek, a young man of twenty years. We follow a number of incidents Jacek was involved in. He can only be described – at best – as skifuz. Kieslowski shows us the brutal murder of a taxi driver at the hands of Jacek. The director lingers on every single moment. It is a very long murder scene. It is a savage, cruel and relentlessly brutal. The victim’s pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears. We hate Jacek and are happy when he is condemned to death.

Then Kieslowski turns the tables on us. The seven minute murder scene is countered by a five minute hanging scene. The brutality of Jacek is matched by the brutality of the state. Kieslowski said that his film crew was shaking while the execution scene was being rehearsed, even though they knew it was only pretence.

It’s bad enough to have brutal citizens around but it’s much worse to have a brutal state! Capital punishment is bad and is proven not to be effective. The stance against it is based on the belief that everyone is redeemable. It is society’s mission to not just to punish but to help people redeem themselves and not to eliminate them.

Thank God for Mr Justice Galea Debono

The jury of Mr Schembri will not make me change my position against capital punishment.

Society, I just wrote, must punish the wicked. Therefore I thank Mr Justice Galea Debono who showed that justice could be done without being vindictive. The punishment he meted out is harsh but fair in the circumstances. Schembri seemed to be unrepentant till the very end. He turned towards the relatives of the victim and twice told them: I am still alive. I am still alive.

Mr Justice Galea Debono showed us once more that the honest find in him a defender while the criminal find in him a scourge. Our Courts are better courts because of people like Mr Justice Galea Debono.

In his sentence the Judge pointed out a particularly incredible incident in this sad and sordid drama. Mr Justice Galea Debono pointed out that Schembri had 12 previous convictions over cases including violence and abuse of hard drugs. His probation officer had, just a week before this crime, recommended Schembri’s imprisonment. Unfortunately the Court decided to ignore the recommendation of the probation officer and let Schembri go out a free man. .

“Had that court eliminated him from circulation,” said the judge, “maybe Josette Scicluna would be still enjoying her life with her daughter.”

The Judge’s reference and emphasis on this incident is not just a criticism of another court and a colleague but it is also a warning against lenient sentencing.

Another troubling thing

There is another very worrying thing about the trial. I refer to the 8 – 1 result. I asked different people why, in their opinion, such a thing is possible. Almost all told me the same thing. The jurors, many said, vote in such a way so that the convicted criminal will never be certain of those who found him guilty and, therefore, he or she will find it difficult to take revenge.

I am not saying that it is true that jurors behave in this way. In fact I cannot believe that this can be the case. But it seems that there is a very strong perception that this is what happens. Such a perception – communicated to me even by someone who served as a juror – should be investigated. If the perception tallies with reality then the jury system is of dubious value. If, as I believe, the perception does not tally with reality, then something should be done to change it.

Till next time I wish you all good bye and good luck.