Man cleared of trying to kill his son-in-law

A jury has cleared Innocent Farrugia of trying to kill his son-in-law but found him guilty of seriously injuring him in self-defence.

The son-in-law, Joseph Caruana, who was stabbed in the neck, made a passionate plea against a prison sentence just before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono retired to his chambers to consider his sentence.

"I don't want anything (jail). I need the help of this person," said Mr Caruana.

In the end, Mr Farrugia was given a two-year jail term suspended for four. After almost three hours of deliberation, the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder by six votes to four but guilty of seriously injuring Mr Caruana in self-defence.

He stabbed Mr Caruana, 46, with a penknife on May 4, 2005, a day after Mr Caruana's wife, Suzanne, left their matrimonial home claiming to have seen her husband in the company of a prostitute in Marsa. Mr Caruana denied this, saying he was in Marsa doing his job as a plasterer and that the problems with his father-in-law were sparked by this incident.

The two men came to blows after Mr Caruana blocked the path of Mr Farrugia's van in Gudja. The court heard that Mr Caruana attacked Mr Farrugia with a knife but Mr Farrugia managed to wrestle the knife away from him, hitting him in self-defence.

Mr Caruana had already told the court on Monday he had forgiven his father-in-law.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Galea Debono took into consideration the fact Mr Caruana's repeated pleas not to send his father-in-law to prison and also that the accused did not have a criminal history, with a traffic convention issued in 1991 being the most recent.

He pointed out that the jury believed Mr Farrugia's statement that he acted in self-defence although they deemed his reaction to be "excessive". Their verdict also revealed that they did not believe that there was "a specific intention to kill Mr Caruana or put his life in serious danger".

Mr Justice Galea Debono said all such circumstances, including Mr Farrugia's age, were a "classic case" pointing to a suspended sentence.

Lawyer Lara Lanfranco from the Attorney General's office prosecuted.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto and Michael Schiriha appeared for the defence.

Lawyer Charmaine Cherrett appeared parte civile for Mr Caruana.