One of the two men jailed for 30 years over the 1989 l-Ahrax in Mellieha murder case yesterday filed an appeal, saying he was unaware of any plan to kill Nazzareno Ebejer.

On 22 October, George Pace, 55, was cleared of murder, but was found guilty of being an accomplice in the murder of Mr Ebejer in a room at l-Ahrax. He was jailed for 30 years. The court had been told the victim used to boast that he kept substantial amounts of cash on him. Carmelo Sant, who admitted he committed murder, was also sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. In his appeal, Mr Pace claimed he did not know that Mr Sant wanted to kill Mr Ebejer, and they did not plan how they were going to steal the cash.

He also said it was not prudent of the judge to express his opinion over his (Mr Pace’s) testimony in his final address to the jurors.

Finally, he said that according to the 1989 law, the maximum sentence after life imprisonment was 20 years, not 30 years.

He said this law should have been applied, rather than the amended 1996 version of the Criminal Code. The application was filed by lawyers José Herrera, Chris Cardona and Veronique Dalli.