Suspended sentence for man who shot his brother

The Criminal Court has handed a suspended jail term to a man who admitted to shooting at his brother following a domestic argument over a wall separating their two fields.

Joseph Cachia, 54, had originally been charged with attempted murder in 2006, after an argument escalated from stone-throwing to discharging shotguns. The charge of attempted murder was subsequently withdrawn and replaced by that of grievous bodily harm after a plea-bargaining agreement was reached between the defence and prosecution.

His brother, Anthony, had been charged separately with the same offences and is yet to be sentenced.

Both men had initially pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, being in possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and breaching the peace at the field in the limits of Zurrieq on Saturday at about 5.45 p.m on 15 April 2006, however Joseph changed his plea to guilty in order to avoid a trial by jury.

Joseph had suffered non-life threatening injuries to his head and face in the incident.

Judge Michael Mallia sentenced Cachia to two years imprisonment, suspended for four, and fined him €1164, also ordering him to pay €1142 in costs.