A man currently serving life in prison for the brutal murder of his partner, whom he stabbed 49 times in front of their young daughter, was yesterday sentenced to another four years behind bars for setting his prison cell alight.

David Norbert Schembri, 39, who has a long history of criminal convictions, set fire to the mattress in his maximum security cell at 6pm on April 11, 2012.

The court heard that he had placed his belongings in plastic bags outside the cell before starting the fire.

Testifying before Magistrate Ian Farrugia, Mr Schembri blamed another prisoner, Alfred Bugeja, known as Il-Porporina, for starting the fire.

But the court said this version could not be accepted, especially since this claim was only made towards the end of the compilation of evidence.

The court also found Mr Schembri guilty of threatening a police inspector, a police constable and a correctional officer soon after the incident.

He told investigators he did not feel like talking to them about the fire and to try again the following day.

Considering Mr Schembri is a relapser and has continued to cause trouble even while in jail, the magistrate gave him a three-year, nine-month prison sentence.

Last May, Mr Schembri was jailed for an extra seven years after being found guilty of slashing another inmate’s eyeball with a razor blade, blinding him in that eye. The incident occurred during an argument with fellow prisoner Noel Borg at the prison infirmary in June 2010, after Mr Schembri insulted Mr Borg’s deceased father.

In court, Mr Schembri claimed to have been tipped off that Mr Borg planned to pay him back so he hid a makeshift switchblade he had created out of a shaving blade and a plastic handle.

He told investigators he did not feel like talking to them about the fire and to try again the following day

As they were queueing for methadone, Mr Schembri slashed Mr Borg across the face, severely damaging his cornea and causing him to lose all his sight in that eye.

Mr Schembri is sure to leave the Corradino Correctional Facility in a coffin, under a penal code where life means life.

The vicious murder of his former partner, 32-year-old Josette Scicluna, the mother of his child, took place in May 2004, when he stabbed her no fewer than 49 times.

His daughter, then aged seven, had witnessed the first part of the attack before she was taken away by a neighbour.

He had shot open the door of her flat and chased her into the kitchen where he cornered her between the refrigerator and the wall and stabbed her relentlessly.

He has no fewer than 12 convictions on his criminal record, for driving offences, possession of cannabis, heroin and cocaine and trafficking drugs.

He had lost his bail pending the murder trial after he was caught trying to escape from the island.