Man who blinded, shot il-Kohhu in neck released on bail

Jonathan Pace, the man accused of shooting Vince Muscat ‘il-Kohhu’ three times in the neck and hand, has today been granted bail by Magistrate Carol Peralta.

Pace – the owner of Tyson Butcher in Zejtun - is pleading not guilty to committing the attempted murder of il-Kohhu. The incident occurred on the evening of 8 April in Triq Bordin, Msida, when Muscat, who is one of the men allegedly involved in the heist on the HSBC headquarters in 2010, was shot while in his car.

He then drove himself to the Msida police station with blood gushing from his head before being rushed to Mater Dei Hospital. where he was certified to be suffering from life threatening injuries.

In submissions for bail, defence lawyers Gianella de Marco and Joe Giglio, told the court that their client deserves bail because the main witnesses had been heard and insisted that bail should be withheld because the accused has a clean criminal record.

Bail was however heavily opposed by the prosecution, who claimed that bail should be withheld because the accused may relapse and cause unrest in society. Despite the prosecution’s opposition, presiding Magistrate Carol Peralta granted Pace bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €4,000.

During a previous sitting, prosecuting inspector Keith Arnaud told the court that as yet, no motive has been established, while Muscat testified that he identified his shooter as being Jonathan Pace.

“Someone got out of the passenger’s side and started shooting. He was holding a large pistol in his right hand, and as soon as he got out of the car he rolled back his hood, and wore his mask with his left hand.”

“At this point, I recognised the shooter as being Jonathan Pace,” he said.

Muscat suffered three shots to his head, and as a result he lost sight in his right eye and has a bullet partially lodged in his head.

Muscat also told the court that two days before the attempted murder was carried out, he and Pace were at home drinking coffee and chatting together.

Muscat is a co-accused in the attempted murder of two police officers in the failed bank heist on the HSBC main office in Qormi in 2010. Muscat allegedly fired over 30 shots at the police. He is still out on bail.

Inspector Keith Arnaud prosecuted, while lawyers Gianella de Marco and Joe Giglio are defence counsel. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is representing Vince Muscat in parte civile.