On Wednesday, a jury had found 23-year-old Marco Zarb from Birkirkara guilty of trying to kill his then girlfriend, 27-year-old Georgina Borg at 11pm in Gozo on 24 June 2001. Zarb threw Ms Borg off a three-storey balcony and, according to his statement, went down to try and strangle her after seeing she had survived the fall. As a result of the incident, Ms Borg is wheelchair-bound for life.

The jury declared this to be a crime of passion since the woman had been cheating on him and told him she wanted to break off their relationship. Zarb had admitted the crime in a detailed statement to police. He had said he had an intense relationship with the victim and he did what he did because he loved her so much.

During the defence’s submissions on the punishment, presiding judge Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said: “There are people who are criminals and there are others who fall foul of the criminal law.”

He said these words after the accused’s sister, Tina Zarb, testified that her brother is not a violent man. Mr Justice Galea Debono asked Ms Zarb why no members of the family had attended any of the trial sittings.

Ms Zarb said her mother did not have the courage and went on to explain that the family had not agreed with his relationship with Ms Borg from the start.

Prosecuting officer Dr Anthony Barbara questioned who was going to pay for this crime: “Remember, the victim is serving a life sentence in a wheelchair,” he said.

When passing judgement, Mr Justice Galea Debono was asked to consider various points. The accused was only 19 at the time of the crime, he had a clean record, except for this incident, he was remorseful even just after the crime and he had cooperated with the police.

Handing down the sentence, the judge explained that Zarb had not, in fact, cooperated. “At first he said Ms Borg fell and it was only after the police persisted with their questioning and investigations that he released his statement and admission,” he said.

He went on to explain that had it not been for the work of the police, this case could have easily been brushed under the carpet as a suicide attempt. Mr Justice Galea Debono also considered the gravity of the consequences of Zarb’s actions. “Permanent damage has been done and the victim will remain a paraplegic, depending on others all her life,” he said.

Due to these considerations, Zarb was sentenced to eight years in prison, after the jury had found him guilty by six votes to three.

The seven months Zarb has spent in preventative custody are to be deducted from the sentence. He had been facing a maximum of 12 years in jail. He was also ordered to pay Lm283 in court expenses. As the judgement was read out, Zarb stood very straight. He seemed somewhat unaware of what was happening, as his lawyers, Dr Chris Cardona and Dr Chris Soler, ushered him out of the courtroom.