The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld the 20-year prison sentences imposed on Kurt Grech, 31, known as in-'Nemes', and his father Joseph Grech, 61, after a jury found them guilty of the 2017 murder of 21-year-old Brandon Pace in Ħamrun.

The appellate court dismissed their arguments that contradictory testimony, jury misdirection and an allegedly excessive sentence should have led to a different outcome.

During the appeal, the defence insisted the punishment should be reduced to the statutory minimum of 12 years, stressing that the jury's 6-3 split suggested uncertainty. The prosecution countered that the case involved the loss of a young man's life and emphasised that Joseph Grech had a duty to stop his son, not join him.

The court reiterated that assessing facts and witness credibility lies primarily with the jury and that an appellate court only interferes if the verdict is clearly unreasonable. Joseph Grech claimed the jury could not safely convict him because of contradictions in eyewitness accounts and because independent witness Kurt Mallia never identified him as one of the attackers.

But the court said several witnesses, including the victim's mother Lisa Pace, as well as Donna Pace, Jessica Bilocca and Joseph Vella, gave consistent testimony that both father and son stabbed the victim.

Forensic evidence showing the victim's blood on Joseph's shoe further supported this. Mallia had not witnessed the final moments and could not undermine the other testimony.

The court agreed that the trial judge had erred in explaining the excusing circumstance of provocation, introducing concepts from another subsection that did not apply.

However, it held that these errors created no injustice because provocation could never have succeeded on the facts. Joseph joined a confrontation already underway, and the victim was retreating and injured when the fatal blow was delivered. There was no grave offence by the victim that could justify provocation.

The court outlined how the incident unfolded after long-standing tensions between the two families.

On the day of the killing, Kurt went to Pace's home armed with two knives. In his police statement, he admitted arriving with "the knives in my hands" and intending to "settle it today," which the Court interpreted as going there to start a fight.

When no one answered the door, he kicked it and shouted insults until his parents arrived and briefly tried to calm him. Brandon eventually came downstairs with a knife, likely because Kurt was armed.

Brandon struck the first blow, lightly injuring Kurt, but the court found this was a direct consequence of Kurt's provocation. Kurt then stabbed the victim repeatedly, including near the heart, admitting he "started hitting blindly." Witnesses described the attack continuing even after Brandon fell and dropped his weapon. Lisa Pace testified that she saw Joseph stabbing her son and heard him say, "Let him die."

Two 19cm knives used in the attack were later recovered, hidden in a drain near the Grech home, stained with blood.

Kurt's claim of self-defence was rejected outright, with the Court saying a person who goes to the victim's residence armed and intent on confrontation cannot rely on such a defence.

The argument that the 20-year sentence was excessive also failed, with the Court noting that the law provides for life imprisonment for voluntary homicide, making the sentence moderate in comparison.

Concluding that the evidence against both men was solid and that the errors in jury directions had no impact on the verdict, the court dismissed the appeal on all grounds and confirmed both the conviction and the 20-year prison sentences.

The appellate court was presided over by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and Judges Edwina Grima and Giovanni Grixti.