Angelo Gafa's position as police commissioner is no longer tenable because he lied about Nicolette Ghirxi hours after her murder, knowing she could not speak for herself because she was dead, the PN said.

During the press conference on Monday afternoon, the opposition's home affairs and civil liberties shadow ministers Darren Carabott and Graziella Attard Previ stopped short of calling on Gafa to resign.

"A few hours after the murder he felt comfortable facing the media and blamed Nicolette, saying she didn't want to sit for the risk assessment," Carabott said.

"Gafa lied to the people and worse than that, he lied about a person who was murdered whose voice he knew would never be heard again. He always sticks his neck out for the politicians - this time he's lying for them. His position is no longer tenable."

Carabott was referring to a Sunday Times of Malta story which revealed that in April Ghirxi had agreed to take a risk assessment for domestic violence but told a friend and her lawyer that she was “talked out of it” by professionals when she attended her evaluation.

Those professionals were employed by the Foundation of Social Welfare Services (FSWS). The foundation told Times of Malta that its risk assessors categorically deny talking Ghirxi out of taking an assessment. 

Carabott said the problem was not the workers and the officers, but the system, which once again had failed another domestic violence victim.

"She was murdered because of a system that failed her," Attard Previ said.

"The system is using tools that lack the sensitivity to detect the complexities of domestic violence and to understand when victims are at risk."

Ghirxi was found murdered in her Swatar apartment two weeks ago. Her ex-partner Edward Johnston was shot dead by police hours later.

Darren Carabott and Graziella Attard Previ addressed the press conference on Monday. Photo: PN

An independent police complaints board is investigating the case but that is not enough, according to the PN MPs.

The board investigates police operations, but the failure of the systems in Nicolette's murder goes beyond the police, they said.

It is only through an independent inquiry that the whole truth about the different systems can come out, to ensure there is not another case like Ghirxi's, they said.

"The inquiry must clearly encompass all the systems at work without hindering court proceedings, and its conclusions must be debated in multiple sessions in parliament," Carabott said.

"Also, the fact that there is not one woman on the police board investigating the case shows the government hasn't yet understood the message."

Last week the family of Nicolette Ghirxi also called for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding her murder at the hands of her ex-partner.

Her former lawyer Joseph Borda and two members of the Ghirxi family told Times of Malta they wanted an inquiry “to establish the facts leading to her tragic death”.