The father of Tyson Butcher’s Jonathan Pace, shot dead as he stood on his mother’s balcony last August, has been jailed for threatening his wife at the site where his son lay dead.

John Pace, 53, from Marsascala, was found guilty of repeatedly threatening to kill his wife and chasing her with a broken glass in his hand shortly after his son was killed.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli jailed Mr Pace for 15 months and ordered him to pay almost €400 in court expenses after noting there were “repeated and persistent” threats towards his wife and that the harassment stretched over a period of time.

The domestic violence incidents began on August 21 when the couple’s son was shot in a drive-by shooting while standing in the balcony of his mother’s home in Triq Mahatma Gandhi in Fgura.

Magistrate Demicoli heard how John Pace’s estranged wife phoned to inform him about the shooting. When he arrived, he threatened to kill her.

According to the couple’s daughter, who testified in court, her father seemed drunk when he arrived and the police, who were on site investigating the murder, had to intervene to calm him down.

At one point, the court heard, someone gave her father a shot of whisky as he was visibly shocked at what had happened to his son. She said he smashed the glass on a step and chased her mother in an attempt “to stab her in the neck”. The court heard how John Pace continued to harass his wife throughout the rest of August and September.

During this time, the woman filed several police reports on how her husband was harassing and threatening her. He called her repeatedly on her mobile and when she failed to pick up, he would ring his daughter.

The police warned John Pace to leave his wife alone but he persisted with the threats and the calls.

There were phone calls in which he threatened to go to his wife’s residence and others in which he warned her she would “vanish”, forcing the police to arrest him.

Magistrate Demicoli jailed him for 15 months though sources said he has appealed.

Jonathan Pace, 31, was hit by five of the 15 to 20 shots fired from an SUV at the balcony where he was standing. He died after a short while. The crime remains unsolved.

The shooting was similar to that of Joseph Galea in Marsa on February 4. A rapid fire assault rifle that is prohibited in Malta appeared to have been used.

Mr Pace had been living in his mother’s apartment since being released on bail on August 8 after being accused of the attempted murder of Vince Muscat il-Koħħu, who was shot and seriously injured outside his home in Msida on April 8.