Almost €2,000 was collected in aid of Puttinu Cares during the funeral of New Year’s Day shooting victim Eric Borg.

The NGO said on Monday the sum of €1,965 was collected during last Saturday’s funeral.

The funeral was held at St Paul’s Basilica in Rabat. The family had asked for donations to Puttinu Cares instead of flowers. A donation box was placed near the condolences book in church.

Borg, 27, was shot twice on New Year’s Day and died on the pavement at Triq il-Fidloqqom, Rabat.

Noel Azzopardi, 39 and unemployed, turned himself in at Rabat police station shortly after the shooting.

He was arraigned last week and pleaded not guilty to wilful homicide, using a firearm to commit a crime, firing a gun within 200 metres of an urban area and not ensuring that his gun and ammunition were kept in a secure place inside his home.

His lawyers told the court that their client had a history of psychiatric treatment and requested that his medical records, especially those related to Mount Carmel Hospital, be presented in court.

Times of Malta reported last week how Azzopardi was transferred out of the Kordin prisons to the Forensic Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital following a psychiatric evaluation. He is being held there in preventive custody.