The final witness due to testify in the prosecution's case concerning the murder of Paceville kingpin Hugo Chetcuti no longer lives in Malta, the Chetcuti family’s lawyer told the court on Wednesday.

Lawyer Joe Giglio began the court session by noting that the prosecution’s sole scheduled witness that day - a doctor involved in Mr Chetcuti's medical care - was furthering his medical studies in the UK and would remain there for an entire year.

The doctor was due to testify in the compilation of evidence against Bojan Cmelik, who stands accused of having murdered Mr Chetcuti last July.

Mr Chetcuti was arguably Malta’s most famous nightclub entrepreneur, having taken over much of Paceville over the previous decade. He was stabbed outside one of his venues on a busy Friday night, with the police arresting Mr Cmelik a short while later.

Two armed officers stood guard outside the courtroom, with four more inside, keeping an eye on Mr Cmelik.

Read: Doctors recall 'huge amounts of blood' as they operated on Hugo Chetcuti

On Wednesday, Dr Giglio asked the Attorney General to drop its request for the doctor living overseas to testify, noting that he had served as an assistant to doctor Alex Attard, who had already testified at great lengths. 

A prosecuting inspector confirmed with the court that the missing doctor was the sole remaining witness left to summon.

Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia took note of Dr Giglio’s request and ordered that it be passed on to the Attorney General. Should they insist on presenting the remaining witness, they would have to appear via video conferencing, she added.

The case was adjourned to February 25.