Updated: Carl Caruana sentenced to four years in prison over attempted grievous injuries
A Court has sentenced Carl Caruana to four years in prison after finding him guilty of attempting to cause grievous injuries in a stabbing case, while acquitting him of attempted murder charges.
The accused was cleared of the charge of attempted murder relating to the 2019 attempted murder of Christian Muscat after a jury delivered a 8-1 verdict
After around four hours of deliberation, jurors returned to the courtroom where the verdict was read out in the presence of Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera.
The accused was charged over an incident which took place on 29 November 2019 in Triq in-Nadur, Marsascala, where five shots were fired following an argument. He faced charges of attempted murder, illegal possession and use of a firearm, and other offences.
Caruana had pleaded not guilty to all charges and will face a prison sentence ranging from eight to 40 years, as requested by the Attorney General. The remaining firearm-related charges also carry separate prison terms ranging from several months to a number of years.
On the main charge of attempted murder, the jury found Caruana not guilty by eight votes to one. However, he was unanimously found guilty of the remaining charges, which included the attempt to cause grievous injuries and illegal possession of a firearm.
During the submissions regarding the sentence, the prosecution maintained that five shots were fired in a public space, and reminded that this firearm was never recovered. Hence, the prosecution requested the maximum punishment.
The defence stated that in the past seven years since the incident occurred, the accused has never entered the dock again.
Defence lawyer Ishmael Psaila pleaded that according to the law, the provision of attempted bodily harm should be reduced by one or two decrees.
Judge Scerri Herrera sentenced the accused to four years in prison on Friday.
The prosecution was led by lawyers Kaylie Bonett, Luigi Gulia and Dejan Darmanin on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office.
The defence was led by lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia.
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