A man who was accused of shooting at the door of a Żejtun resident last year, has been cleared of criminal responsibility on grounds of insanity.

Doubts as to the accused’s mental state arose over the rapid succession of unprovoked incidents which resulted in a raft of criminal charges against the 41-year old, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in August 2021.

His alleged victim filed a report on August 5, stating that his front door had been damaged.

The door’s glass panel was shattered and a hole in the door appeared to have been caused by a shot from a firearm.

Subsequently, CCTV footage showed that a vehicle had stopped outside the house at around 2.15am, its hazard lights flashing.

A shot was fired in the direction of the house and then the aggressor drove off.

The vehicle was identified and investigators tracked down its owner, the accused.

A search of the car yielded a spent shotgun cartridge on the passenger side, while a similar weapon and cartridges were seized during a search at the suspect’s home.

Some weeks before, the same victim had reported that his Alfa Romeo had been damaged and that beer had been splattered all across his house façade.

Three days later, on July 21, the man reported how minutes earlier, he had been chatting to the accused’s aunt when the accused approached, threatening to kill him.

He also told police that a few days before, he had come across two broken padlocks on a gate leading to other property he owned.

The victim’s suspicions fell upon the accused who, when spoken to by the police, did not quite deny but played down the matter, saying that he never had any trouble with others.

The victim himself testified in the proceedings and during a sitting in July, stated in court that he forgave the accused.

Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia observed that since the alleged incidents took place in quick succession and were unprovoked, the court was morally convinced that the damage to the victim’s car, gate and padlocks had been caused by the accused.

Throughout the proceedings, the accused had remained in preventive custody and under the care of a psychiatrist at Corradino Correctional Facility.

Evidence was put forward showing that the accused had a history of mental and anger management problems.

He had been admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital because of alcohol and other substance abuse.

But he persisted in denying such problems and failed to address them even though he was offered help.

In light of such evidence, the court itself raised the issue of insanity and appointed a psychiatrist to examine the accused so as to determine whether he was mentally insane at the time of committing the alleged offences.

After hearing the accused’s personal psychiatrist as well as the court-appointed expert, the court concluded that the man was likely psychotic at the time of the incidents.

Indeed, he had suffered psychosis for years and the condition was possibly related to or aggravated by substance abuse.

A probation officer who spoke to the accused after he had served time in jail over a separate case, also told the court that around that time, the accused had claimed that he was “hearing voices.”

That was mere months before the Żejtun incidents.

When all was considered, the court concluded that the accused was suffering from a ‘disease of the mind’ which affected his ability to understand and to will at the time of the offence.

Consequently, the court declared him exempt of all criminal responsibility and ordered him to be detained at Mount Carmel Hospital in terms of law.

Superintendent Melvyn Camilleri prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti appeared parte civile.