A father who together with his son is charged with fatally stabbing a man in Hamrun, should not be found guilty of voluntary homicide since he went there to calm his son down and grabbed a knife only after seeing him covered in blood, a lawyer argued in court on Wednesday.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto was making his case in the trial against Kurt Grech,  31, known as in-Nemes, and his father Joseph, 61, both from Pieta.

They are pleading not guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Brandon Pace on April 2, 2017 in Giovanni Barbara Street, Hamrun.

The two are accused of wilful homicide, unlawful possession of knives, breaching public peace and good order and threatening the victim’s mother, Lisa Pace, and partner Jessica Bilocca. Bilocca had a son from Kurt Grech.   

On Tuesday, when the defence started making its case, it argued that Kurt Grech went to Hamrun to protect his son after an argument between Jessica Bilocca and his mother. He carried knives in case he had to protect himself from Pace who he perceived as “dangerous”  

The scene of the Hamrun murder.

On Wednesday Montalto made the defence arguments for Joseph Grech. He said that Joseph Grech was not the one who instigated the situation that day. He followed his son to Pace’s Hamrun home in a separate car to calm him down.

Witnesses had testified that he tried to calm the situation when tiles were being flung during the fight. However, the lawyer said, at some point, Joseph Grech saw Pace – perceived as a dangerous man – fight with his son - then saw his son covered in blood. The concerned father got hold of one of the knives – which he did not take with him – and witnesses saw him stab Brandon in the back, he said. However, he insisted, that the evidence did not conclude which of the back wounds was caused by Joseph Grech.

Experts said one of the back wounds “could have” been fatal. But evidence also showed that the back wound followed another wound in the chest that was deemed fatal as it punctured Pace’s heart. 

The trial was later suspended for the rest of the day after at least three jurors were taken ill. They were told to rest by a doctor. 

Montalto is representing the accused with lawyers Edward Gatt and Kathleen Grima while lawyers Rachel Tua and Ishmael Psaila are representing the victim’s family. Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Kaylie Bonett, from the Attorney General’s office, are prosecuting.