Former policeman Carmel Cutajar was this afternoon jailed for seven-and-a-half years and fined €6,500 after jurors found him guilty, by six votes against three, of attempting to murder his estranged wife Maria.

Mr Cutajar, 51, of Rabat, shot his wife in the chest on September 26, 2012 near the Point de Vue guesthouse in Saqqajja.

Jurors however found that Mr Cutajar acted under instantaneous passion and mental agitation and could not reflect on the consequences.

In his submissions on punishment, defence lawyer Edward Gatt highlighted the fact that jurors had delivered a minimum vote and that his client was a first time offender.

The jury had agreed that he had been mentally agitated, Dr Gatt told Madam Justice Edwina Grima. He empathised with what the victim went through because no one should have to go face such histrionics during a separation, Dr Gatt said.

However, Mr Cutajar had already suffered the worst punishment by being separated from his children.

Lawyer Giannella Busuttil from the Attorney General's Office said that the court could not pass the message that anyone going through marital strife could just grab a weapon and shoot their partner.

Mr Cutajar was also found guilty of the other charges: seriously injuring his wife, carrying an unlicensed firearm and committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent, she reminded the court.