An appeals court has upheld a decision finding a former policeman guilty of having attempted to kill his wife while under instantaneous passion and mental agitation.

Carmel Cutajar had been jailed for seven-and-a-half years and fined €6,500 after having been found guilty in 2016 of attempting to murder his estranged wife Maria on September 26, 2012.

Mr Cutajar, 54, of Rabat, shot his wife in the chest near the Point de Vue guesthouse in Saqqajja. The accused had been married to his wife for 21 years. They had two daughters aged 14 and 20  at the time.

Mr Cutajar had also been found guilty of seriously injuring his wife, carrying an unlicensed firearm and committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent. 

The Attorney General appealed the decision, arguing that the jurors had reached the wrong conclusion when they accepted the defence plea that Mr Cutajar had been mentally agitated because of what he had gone through during separation proceedings.  

The Appeals Court, presided over by Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi and judges Joseph Zammit McKeon and Giovanni Grixti said that the jurors had not been misguided in any way and that the jurors reached their conclusion on the basis of what they heard during the trial by jury. 

The court said the judge presiding over the trial had explained to the jurors the legal requirements of finding someone guilty of acting under the influence of mental agitation.  

In the meantime, Mr Cutajar has served his time in jail and has now been released from prison. 

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo appeared for Mr Cutajar.