"I'm still alive, I'm still alive", Norbert Schembri told family members of his former girlfriend, who he had "mercilessly" stabbed to death five years ago and for which he was yesterday jailed for life.

Even after being convicted for the brutal murder of his daughter's mother, he showed no remorse.

He stood expressionless as the judge condemned him to life imprisonment for the vicious murder of 32-year-old Josette Scicluna. When Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono pronounced judgment, he turned round and, as he headed for the door escorted by the police, he told the victim's sister and other relatives: "I'm still alive, I'm still alive", shrugging his shoulders.

Mr Schembri "mercilessly" murdered Ms Scicluna, stabbing her 49 times in front of their seven-year-old daughter after shooting open the door of her flat in May 2004.

In handing down sentence, Mr Justice Galea Debono said he could not help but notice that just eight days before the murder took place Mr Schembri's bail was extended, making the point that the murder could have been avoided had the courts acted differently.

A probation officer had then testified that the accused was still testing positive to cocaine and was still "threatening Ms Scicluna" despite being under probation. Yet, "rather than converting the probation order into a punishment, restricting his freedom..." the court extended his probation period, Mr Justice Galea Debono noted.

"Had things not been done this way, this heinous crime, only eight days later, could have been completely avoided and Josette Scicluna would have continued to enjoy her life with her daughter."

The judge also commented on the fact that Mr Schembri tried to flee Malta after he was granted bail before the case reached the jury stage. He was caught and jailed for 23 months.

The sentence means he will never leave prison alive.

He was also sentenced to three 10-day periods of solitary confinement, which will be spaced at the discretion of the prison director.

Returning after three-and-a-half-hours of deliberation, the all-male panel of jurors found him guilty by eight votes to one of killing Ms Scicluna and unanimously guilty of illegally carrying a firearm.

Defence lawyer Joe Brincat, in his submissions on punishment, asked the judge to consider that the verdict with regard to the murder was not unanimous and, therefore, a life sentence was not warranted. He insisted that he was not asking for mercy but for justice, mindful of his client's act.

However, the judge made it clear he would not have it, pointing out it was "almost unanimous".

Dr Brincat also said his client cooperated immediately and reiterated that he did not intend killing his ex-girlfriend. He had first made this argument in his closing arguments on Wednesday when he remarked that "only four" of the 49 knife wounds suffered by Ms Scicluna penetrated all the skin layers and the flesh.

The prosecuting officer Anthony Barbara, head of the prosecution unit at the Attorney General's office, vehemently opposed the pleas, pointing out that Ms Scicluna had suffered extreme torture in the moments before her death, as a court expert had explained.

"This was a case of extreme cruelty, something rarely witnessed in these courts," Dr Barbara said, adding the victim was stabbed in the genitals, chest and face in the presence of her daughter.

The jurors did not know that the accused had a criminal past with charges on his police record ranging from drug trafficking to grievous bodily harm and the way the jurors voted, although not unanimously, meant a lot, he said.

Appearing for the victim's family, lawyer Gianella Caruana Curran asked for the punishment to serve as a message to other people, both men and women, who are bullies.

To make her point, she went back to a detail in the testimony of a neighbour who witnessed the murder and who said that when he was finished with stabbing the woman, Mr Schembri simply stood up, fixed his hair and told the witness: "You can call the police now".

Those words, Dr Caruana Curran argued, were the words of a man who had finished the job he had set out to do, pointing out that he had gone to the victim's flat after being told by the police that she had filed a report against him.

Mr Schembri's criminal record has no fewer than 12 convictions. Three of them were jail terms, which followed a series of conditional discharges, probation orders and fines. He has convictions for driving offences, possession of cannabis, heroin and cocaine and trafficking in drugs as well as running over a person.

He was also a drug addict and although the courts had tried their best to help him, he never got over it. On this point, Mr Justice Galea Debono remarked that perhaps the courts had done too much for Mr Schembri.

Another factor the court took into account was the trauma he caused to his own daughter when he barged into the flat shooting the door down as she and her mother were having supper. The seven-year-old testified that she had "heard loud bangs" and later saw "the door open and daddy holding a gun".

Speaking after the sentence was pronounced, the victim's father said he was satisfied with the punishment. "My reaction is that my daughter will not be coming back. But it's a good judgment and justice has been done," he said, thanking the police officers who worked on the case.

Nine life sentences in 20 years

David Schembri's is the ninth life sentence given by Maltese courts over the past two decades.

The two longest serving inmates are Tunisians Mohsin Bin Brahim Mosbah and Ben Ali Wahid Ben Hassine who were sentenced to life in jail after admitting to killing four people on separate dates in February 1988. This was the only case of a serial killing in Malta with the motive being theft.

Joseph Harrington was jailed for life after being convicted of murdering Sylvia King, who was burnt alive in her car on April 4, 1993 at Kunċizzjoni, limits of Rabat.

Bertu Ellul was found guilty of killing three people, including a seven-year-old boy, in a shooting spree in May 1997 and was jailed for life.

The victims were Rose Baldacchino, her son Antoine and Matthew Baldacchino.

Andy Spiteri got a life sentence after admitting to shooting Police Constable Roger Debattista who was standing guard outside the Bank of Valletta branch in Qormi in November 2001. He formed part of a five-men gang that robbed the bank, with one of them, Ian Galdes Spiteri, also receiving a life sentence after admitting to his part in the theft.

Ibrahim Ramadan Chamber Shnishah was found guilty of complicity in the murder of hairdresser Alfie Rizzo on February 4, 1998 and was given a life sentence.

Alfred Azzopardi was jailed for life after killing Vanessa Grech and her 17-month-old baby girl Ailey on November 12, 2001. Their bodies were found in the well of her house with the baby sustaining four stab wounds and her mother 12.