The man accused of the murder of Baron Francis Sant Cassia 35 years ago is unable to stand trial for health reasons, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

The decree was handed down by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera after a representative of the Attorney General last week told the court that she would not contest the defence’s application to the effect that the accused, Carmel Camilleri, 68, was not fit to face trial because of a medical impediment.

The judge observed that psychiatrists had confirmed that Camilleri was not fit to plead to the charges or face trial. 

They also said that his place was not at Mount Carmel Hospital or away from his family, but rather he should live at his family home where he posed no danger to himself or to third parties.

The court therefore decreed that Camilleri will not face trial because of the  “precarious state of health” but the trial could be reappointed if his health sufficiently improved.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta were defence counsel.

Camilleri, a 68-year old father-of-four, was arraigned in 2006 and accused of the fatal shooting which took place on October 27, 1988. He pleaded not guilty and has been on bail since.  

Last year, a court declared that statements released by Camilleri in 2006 were not admissible as evidence since they had been given without the assistance of a lawyer. 

Last March the court was told that his health had deteriorated to the extent that he was wheelchair-bound and could no longer have a simple conversation. His lawyers filed a judicial protest arguing that they could not offer him legal advice and that the situation had resulted in a breach of his fundamental rights including his right to a fair trial within a reasonable time and his right to protection against inhuman and degrading treatment.

During Camilleri's arraignment in 2006, Superintendent Pierre Calleja, who prosecuted together with Inspector Christopher Pullicino, said in court that the police had received confidential information about the involvement of the accused but when arrested, he had denied any involvement.

However, when he was rearrested a few days later, the accused admitted it was he who had shot Baron Sant Cassia. When the police took him to the place where the murder had taken place, he explained to them how the murder was carried out and this description matched exactly what the police had found on the scene of the crime at the time.

A second person, believed at the time to have commissioned the murder, was detained by the police, but never arraigned.

Stefano Filletti is representing the Sant'Cassia family.