Updated 4.17pm

Artist Patrick Dalli caused a ruckus in court on Wednesday morning, as he hurled insults at Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti inside a packed courtroom.

Dalli, who is the husband of EU Commissioner and former minister Helena, was in court over a breach of rights case filed by one of the couple’s sons. 

Jean Marc Dalli was convicted in 2021 of trafficking ecstasy at a party in Corradino back in 2013 after he was caught-red handed handing another person six pills at a party. He was sentenced to three months in prison. 

He appealed that sentence and also filed a breach of rights case, arguing that he was not afforded a fair trial because he was not accompanied by a lawyer when he gave a statement to the police. 

Dalli had confessed to the police that he had bought the ecstasy pills for himself and another person. 

In 2022, a court dismissed Dalli's breach of rights claim on the basis that he had consulted his lawyer before the interrogation and that a lawyer’s presence during questioning was not a legal requirement at the time. 

Dalli appealed that decision, but on Wednesday chief justice Mark Chetcuti quashed his bid to have the statement struck from the record, upholding the judgment.

The judge read out the final part of the appeal decision and then moved on to read judgments in other cases. But the accused’s father was having none of it and demanded that the chief justice provide a reason for the decision and explain why the case had taken so long to conclude.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” Dalli shouted at the judge inside the courtroom.

“Mafia! Mafia! Corruption, freemasonry and Opus Dei!,” he yelled, as ushers rushed to contain him and escort him out of the courtroom.

Court sentences are generally published in their entirety on the same day as the verdict is delivered and made public on the court’s website.

In his decision, Chief Justice Chetcuti noted that Dalli had at no point during criminal proceedings sought to have his statement to the police deemed inadmissible as evidence. 

Dalli with his son Jean Marc. Photo: Facebook/Patrick Dalli

On the contrary, he had taken an oath before the inquiring magistrate to confirm that statement and had benefited from a reduced sentence due to having cooperated with the police.

Furthermore, the court said, Dalli's criminal conviction was not based on his statement to the police.

"It is clear as crystal that so far there is nothing to indicate that the applicant did not have a fair hearing, or that he will not have a fair hearing before the court of criminal appeal," the judge concluded. 

"If anything, his complaint has only served to needlessly lengthen criminal proceedings he faces."

Sources told Times of Malta that Dalli's legal team is contemplating legal action to have the appeal reheard through a retrial.

Dalli is a renowned local artist, having exhibited works for the past 20 years. His work focuses primarily on nudes and still-lifes.

He was the artist commissioned to paint an official portrait of Joseph Muscat as prime minister. That painting was quietly hung in the Office of the Prime Minister in 2021, one year after Muscat resigned in the wake of anti-corruption protests.