The Foundation of Social Welfare Services (FSWS) has denied that its employees discouraged murder victim Nicolette Ghirxi from taking a risk assessment. 

The denial comes after one of Ghirxi's close friends and her lawyer told Times of Malta that Ghirxi had agreed to take a risk assessment but that she had been "talked out of it" when she attended the evaluation. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the FSWS insisted that at no point did their employees discourage Ghirxi from taking the risk assessment. 

To back this up, the agency published two affidavits from Jodie Baldacchino and Pavel Cuschieri, the two risk assessors present on the day that Ghirxi went to file a report.

In the two near-identical statements, the assessors said that on April 22, they had explained to Ghirxi what carrying out the risk assessment would involve using the DASH risk checklist. 

They said that after they explained to her in detail what the process would involve, Ghirxi said that she did not feel that she needed to undergo the assessment. 

To justify this decision, they said that Ghirxi had insisted that her report was connected to harassment and insults. 

A transcript of the voice note that Ghirxi sent to her friend via WhatsApp.

Baldacchino and Cuschieri said they told her that the decision whether to carry out the assessment or not was up to her, but that if she wanted to do it they would be able to start immediately. 

For a second time, they said that Ghirxi refused, saying she did not feel she was at risk. 

The assessors said they made it clear to Ghirxi that if she changed her mind she could return to take the assessment any time, as they were available 24 hours a day. 

At her refusal, Ghirxi was then directed to fill in a form that documents her refusal of service in writing, as is standard procedure, where assessors say she confirmed her refusal of the assessment in writing. 

“Presently, I don’t think I am at risk. My report is based on insults and harassment. If anything new comes up, I will report," the assessors quote Ghirxi as saying. 

Ghirxi was found stabbed to death in her Swatar apartment on august 12. She is believed to have been killed by her former partner Edward Johnston, who was later shot dead by police. 

Johnston engaged in a three-hour standoff with the police while pointing what later transpired to be a replica Beretta pistol.

Ghirxi's family are calling for an independent inquiry to establish the facts surrounding her death, as well as to identify whether authorities should have been aware that she was in danger.

The PN has called on police commissioner Angelo Gafa to resign over the matter, saying that he lied about Ghirxi refusing to take a risk assessment and tried to "victim blame" her. 

The FSWS said it is ready to cooperate with any inquiry or investigation that seeks to examine its works in this field in general and on this specific case.