A 45-year-old father of four has been given a suspended sentence after a jury found him guilty of homicide through excessive self-defence based on fear, following the shooting death of his wife's lover in December 2008.

Stephen Caruana was accused of the wilful homicide of 28-year-old Neville Baldacchino and the illegal use of a firearm. After a trial that began last week, jurors returned an 8-1 verdict late on Wednesday, finding Caruana guilty of homicide through excessive self-defence. No punishment was imposed for the homicide itself, but he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment suspended for four years and fined €3,000 for the illegal use of a firearm.

According to the Bill of Indictment, Caruana and his wife initially enjoyed a normal married life, but the woman later entered into a secret affair with Baldacchino. The victim had visited the Qormi residence several times. On the night of December 18, 2008, he went to the house while Caruana and the couple's children were asleep.

Baldacchino had sex with the woman in an upstairs bedroom. She later went downstairs to check whether Caruana was still asleep. After a noise was heard upstairs, Caruana allegedly grabbed a shotgun, loaded it and went to investigate. He found Baldacchino on the back terrace and shot him in the head, hand and leg, causing his death.

In her final address, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera reminded jurors of the presumption of innocence and the need to prove charges beyond reasonable doubt, likening the evidence to a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. The prosecution argued the killing was premeditated, while the defence maintained that Caruana was caught by surprise and acted out of fear.