The prosecutor in a murder trial has told jurors that the accused needed drugs so badly that he was prepared to do whatever it took to get them, including murder. 

Etienne Bartolo was craving drugs and was angry at Roderick Grech for refusing to give him cocaine on credit, so he killed him, lawyer Kevin Valletta from the Attorney General's office told court on Thursday.

Bartolo then tried covering his traces by discarding the murder weapon and cleaning his clothes of the blood, Valletta argued.

Valletta was making his closing arguments in Bartolo’s trial. He denies murdering Grech early in the morning on March 29, 2017. Bartolo claims he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed the victim six times.  

The prosecution insisted that the defence lawyers’ argument that Bartolo was scared of Grech was not reasonable and that there was no sense of fear while Bartolo was being interrogated by the police. 

“The only thing Bartolo was scared of was getting caught. Why would Grech have attacked him?", he said. 

"Could it be because Bartolo got angry that he would not give him the drugs? Who was the only one who had a weapon in his pocket? Why?”

He reminded jurors that Bartolo admitted to the police that he had killed Grech. 

The trial continues. Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera is presiding over the trial.

Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Maria Francesca Spiteri from the Office of the Attorney General are prosecuting. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo are defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia are appearing parte civile.