The punishment of a man who breached bail conditions was changed by an appeals court after it found that he breached them once, and not on a continuous basis, as the original punishment had refelcted.

The Court of Magistrates had found Josef Grech, 36, from Balzan, guilty of breaching bail conditions on, and before 18 July 2007.

However, the Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, said that there was not enough evidence to prove that Grech had breached bail before that date. To this end, the punishment was reduced from a month jail time and a Lm500 fine to 21 days in prison and a fine of Lm400.

Grech is accused of the murder of Patricia Attard, who was found dead in a mini van in Ta’ Qali on 14 February 2004.

He was placed under house arrest against a deposit of Lm10,000 and a personal guarantee of Lm20,000, in December 2004

In considering his judgment, Mr Justice Galea Debono said Grech could have come up with another way of bringing home his seven-year-old son, who refused to sleep at his aunt’s house in Bahar ic-Caghaq. He said that in so doing, Grech risked losing Lm30,000.