A 39-year-old man was yesterday jailed for 21 years after he was found guilty of attempted murder.

Louis Mallia, from Valletta, was found guilty of the attempted murder of Gordon Calleja on 30 September 2004 at City Gate, Valletta by six votes to three, after six hours of deliberation.

In handing down his judgment, Mr Justice Galea Debono said he could not but take into consideration the fact that Mallia collected 37 convictions since 1985, 13 of which punishable by jail.

Mallia showed no sign of willing to reform himself, the judge said. He ordered the deduction of the time served by Mallia under preventive custody from the jail sentence.

Mallia was unanimously found guilty of illegal possession of a weapon and a cutting instrument without a license as well as breaching the peace.

The case went back to 30 September 2004 when Mr Calleja, accompanied by his wife Diane Calleja, parked their car at Freedom Square, Valletta.

They then walked towards the bus terminus in order to buy a packet of cigarettes.

There he met Mallia and after a brief argument walked back towards his wife. While on the bridge, he felt Mallia hit him in the neck from behind with a penknife and then was stabbed twice in the chest.

Ms Calleja took her husband to the Floriana Health Centre, from where he was taken to St Luke’s Hospital by ambulance suffering from a partially collapsed lung.

In his submissions on punishment, defence counsel Malcolm Mifsud asked Mr Justice Joe Galea Debono to take into consideration that his client had a drugs-related problem and after spending time in jail he is now clean.

Assistant Attorney General Aaron Bugeja led the prosecution.