Hitman and career criminal George Degorgio was found not guilty of threatening his former partner in a prison phone call.

A court heard how Degiorgio called his former partner telling her he was going to sort her out [se nirranġak], with the court finding insufficient evidence the remark amounted to a criminal threat.

The case stemmed from a telephone conversation on 7 December 2022, which his former partner, with whom he has a child, interpreted as a threat of violence.

During her testimony on 19 June 2024, the woman claimed that Degorgio had been angry over her decision to leave their home.

To explain the fear she associated with his words, she told the court that her son had spent an entire year checking underneath the family car before going to school, fearing that a bomb might have been planted underneath it.

However, Degorgio offered a different explanation when he testified in March 2026, admitting that he had made the remark but insisting that he was referring to his intention to stop providing financial support.

He explained he had been voluntarily paying €5,000 a month towards food, living expenses and the needs of the children in the household. The payments covered not only the child he shared with his former partner, but also his two other children and the woman's daughter.

Degorgio confirmed that he stopped making the payments approximately three weeks to a month after the telephone conversation.

During the proceedings, the defence also challenged an audio recording presented by the prosecution, arguing that there was no evidence establishing who had obtained it, when it was made or whether it was complete and unaltered.

The court agreed that the recording could not be relied upon, noting that the prosecution had failed to establish its authenticity or demonstrate that it had been properly preserved. It therefore excluded the recording from evidence.

Nevertheless, Degorgio's own admission established that he had made the remark, leaving the court to determine whether his words constituted a criminal threat.

In reaching its decision, the court considered the different explanations given by Degorgio and his former partner, as well as the circumstances surrounding the complaint.

It noted the woman had reported the incident to the police on 13 January 2023, more than five weeks after the telephone conversation.

By that time, Degorgio had stopped providing the €5,000 monthly financial support, a circumstance the court took into account when assessing his explanation of what he had meant.

Considering the evidence as a whole, the court concluded the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the remark amounted to a criminal threat.

Degorgio was therefore acquitted of the charge relating to threatening his former partner through electronic communications.

As for a separate charge involving insults and threats, the court did not examine it further because the legal time limit for prosecuting the alleged offence had already expired.

Lawyer Noel Bianco appeared for George Degorgio.

Magistrate Ingrid Bianco presided over the case.