Updated 8.17 pm -

Etienne Bartolo, 36, was jailed for five years on Saturday after he was found guilty of the 2017 murder of Roderick Grech in Birkirkara, but the jurors declared that he had acted in an excess of self-defence.  

The verdict was issued after six hours of deliberation by the jurors.

Bartolo was also convicted of disturbing the peace and being in unlawful possession of a knife.

The jury heard how the fatal stabbing was sparked off by a drug deal gone wrong.  

The two men started arguing in a car and the victim was stabbed six times on the neck, chest, hands and legs as he staggered out. He however, had insisted that he acted in self-defence after being punched.

The sentence was delivered by Madame Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera. The accused was also ordered to pay €19,885 in court costs.

Kevin Valletta and Maria Francesca Spiteri from the Attorney General's Office prosecuted. 

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo were defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono, and Amadeus Cachia appeared for relatives of the victim.