Etienne Bartolo gets five years for killing Roderick Grech after jury rules self-defence

A jury has found Etienne Bartolo guilty of the homicide of Roderick Grech with the excusing factor of excess of self-defence.

Madame Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera sentenced Bartolo to five years imprisonment.

Seven jurors voted him guilty of the head of indictment with two voting against.

Bartolo stabbed Grech to death after a disagreement over a drug deal turned physical. Bartolo had told investigators that he had taken out the penknife from his pocket when Grech had punched him in the shoulder after refusing to allow him 24 hours to pay for a sachet of cocaine.

Grech was stabbed six times and bled to death. Emergency doctors told the court that the man had been clinically dead upon arrival at A&E and had been revived, only to succumb to his wounds shortly afterwards.

Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Maria Francesca Spiteri from the Office of the Attorney General prosecuted. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo were defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia appeared parte civile.