A father and son who were convicted of murder by a jury last week, were jailed for 20 years each on Monday. 

The jury had delivered a 6-3 verdict after eight hours of deliberation, finding Kurt Grech, 31 and his father Joseph, 61, guilty of the fatal stabbing of Brandon Pace outside his Hamrun home on April 2, 2017.

During pre-sentencing submissions, the defence on Monday noted the jury's narrow verdict and urged Madame Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera to impose the minimum 12-year jail sentence as a result.   

In terms of the law, anyone found guilty of murder must serve a minimum sentence of 12 years, with a maximum sentence of life.

The Grechs had pleaded not guilty to wilful homicide, unlawful possession of knives, breaching public order and threatening the victim’s mother Lisa Pace and partner Jessica Bilocca. Kurt Grech was further charged with grievously injuring Bilocca using a knife while his father was also charged with having threatened the victim’s sister, Donna Pace, with a knife during the fight.

The accused were involved in a long-standing feud with Pace, which eventually boiled over into violence following an argument about the treatment of Kurt Grech's son, whose mother - Grech's former partner - had entered into a relationship with Pace.

Grech told police that Pace had been mistreating his infant son.

Lawyer Edward Gatt, appearing for the accused, urged the court to sentence the two men the minimum of 12 years to respect the jury’s vote and its “message”.

The site of the murder in 2017. File photo.

“This is a heartbreaking case,” Gatt told the court, and that while a 21-year-old “boy” (Brnadon Pace) lost his life, the court must consider the whole picture.

He said that people outside of the court room had said “they wouldn’t know what they would have done” if they were in a similar position as Kurt Grech.

“What is for sure is that the jury sent a message, and it is no coincidence that the vote was 6-3, a minimum vote,” Gatt continued. 

He also pointed out that the accused were first time offender.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto, who represented Joseph Grech, also emphasised the need to sentence the accused to the minimum of 12 years.

He said witnesses had all praised Joseph Grech, with the police also saying that he collaborated in the investigations. 

“It is clear that Grech involved himself after he saw his son in danger,” Montalto said.

He also quoted the prosecutor, who said ‘if I had seen someone do that to my son, I wouldn’t know what I would have done’.

He also pointed out how the jury had acquitted his client  of threatening Donna Pace, the victim’s sister.

‘Why didn’t his father stop him?’ prosecutor

Prosecutor Kevin Valletta from the Attorney General's Office agreed that the case was heartbreaking and difficult, but insisted that all the facts needed to be looked at.

“We must be careful of the message we are transmitting out there,” Valletta said.

“Kurt Grech went to Brandon’s house, not even knowing if his son was there. Had the accused considered their actions, the outcome would have been different.”

“Kurt Grech went to Brandon’s home carrying knives, and wanted to end the situation there and then. Why didn’t his father stop him? As a father, he should have stopped him there.”

He said he was not expecting the maximum sentence, but “the verdict is what it is”, and the sentence cannot be less than 12, he said. 

Lawyer Ishmael Psaila, representing the Pace family said:

“We need to look in the eyes of the mother, a mother who others have tried to bad name here, the mother who goes home and remembers that she has lost her son.”

He said Joseph Grech could have controlled his son and stopped him.

During a previous sitting, it emerged that both the father and son had told the police about the “trouble” Kurt Grech faced with Bilocca.

Both recalled how Bilocca punched Kurt Grech with a knuckle duster. Another time, Bilocca had posted a picture of her ex-partner on social media with a threatening message. Pace had commented, “I’ll sort him out”, on the post.

The police heard how Kurt Grech never filed a police report out of fear it would escalate the situation between him and Bilocca.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Katheleen Grima and Edward Gatt were defence counsel while lawyers Rachel Tua and Ishmael Psaila represented the victim’s family.

Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Kaylie Bonett, from the Attorney General’s office, prosecuted.