A court of appeal has sentenced Elliott Paul Busuttil, aged 39 from Attard, to 35 years in prison for killing Mario Farrugia and attempted to kill Emil Marinov.

The judgment was handed down by Mr Justice Neville Camilleri on Tuesday.

Busuttil had already admitted to these crimes and last March he had been sentenced to 42 years in prison and fined €70,000 fine.

However, on June 19 the Court of Appeal ordered that the sentence be reviewed after the defence complained that it had reached an agreement with the prosecution for a 35-year prison term.

Mr Justice Camilleri accepted the defence's request and ruled that a 35-year sentence was more within the parameters of the law.

He also found Busuttil guilty of breaching the conditions of release from arrest granted by the Magistrates' Court on 5 September 2018 and ordered the confiscation of the deposit of €1,000 and the personal guarantee of €10,000.

He also found him guilty of violating the conditions of the Criminal Court and ordered the confiscation of €4,000 in deposit and €10,000 in personal guarantee.

He also ordered him to pay €70,786 in expert fees which, if not paid, will be converted into effective imprisonment.

Farrugia had been found murdered in the trunk of a car in Qormi on 5 April 2022 and the autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed 45 times.

The attempted murder of Marinov took place in 2020 when the victim was found wounded on the ground with blood near the Ta' Qali national stadium.