Thirty years jail for murder

Melchior Spiteri, 28, was yesterday jailed for 30 years for the murder of Jason Azzopardi, the judgment sending his mother into a swoon.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, saying the victim's oppressive behaviour did not give Spiteri the right to take the law into his hands, ruled that although he agreed that Spiteri should not be made an example of to society, it was his duty to hand down a punishment that reflected the serious nature of the crime and Spiteri's criminal record of at least 59 convictions.

Last Friday jurors returned a 7-2 guilty verdict through which they found Spiteri guilty of the murder of Azzopardi, known as Is-Sufu, in Cospicua on October 22, 2001. They unanimously found him guilty of relapsing.

Mr Justice Galea Debono yesterday read out the judgment at about midday. Some eight police officers lined the front seats of the court room behind which Spiteri's family members and friends sat in anticipation.

On handing down judgment the judge took note of the submissions on punishment made by Senior Counsel to the Republic Mark Said, prosecuting, and Spiteri's defence counsel, Tonio Azzopardi.

Dr Said, the judge noted, had explained that although he did not intend to underestimate the torment caused by usury, one could not forget that this was a cold blooded, premeditated murder.

He submitted that there was a danger that victims of usury would be encouraged to take the law into their hands and asked the judge to ensure that the judgment would reflect the gravity of the crime committed.

Dr Azzopardi, on the other hand, had noted that Spiteri had really changed his ways when he was released from prison in 2001, as he had claimed in his testimony. However, due to the problems caused by Azzopardi, Spiteri did not have the opportunity to prove he had changed.

The defence counsel said he hoped the judgment would take Spiteri's suffering into account and added that his client should not be turned into an example to society.

Mr Justice Galea Debono noted that Spiteri's claim of having changed his ways had not been corroborated and, therefore, it remained subjective.

Spiteri, the judge noted, first broke the law in 1990 when he was 15 years old. Since then he was convicted at least 59 times for crimes that ranged from contraventions to theft to violence and for which he was jailed or detained 37 times.

Besides, Spiteri had been found guilty of disobeying the police, breaching bail conditions, threatening and assaulting prison wardens and the police, threatening magistrates and escaping from custody.

When Spiteri was released from jail in 2001 he committed what is probably the worst crime in the Criminal Code, the judge said.

Although the judge agreed that Spiteri should not be turned into an example, it was his duty to hand down a punishment that reflected the crime committed and the accused's criminal record.

He took Azzopardi's oppressive behaviour into consideration and the threats and beating suffered by Spiteri and his mother but added that, although this could have been the motive, Spiteri never had a right to take the law into his hands.

After the judgment was handed down, Spiteri was escorted out by the police but on his way out he was surrounded by family members and friends present who cried as they hugged him. His mother, who fainted, had to be carried out of the court room, which otherwise remained unusually silent.