Żebbiegħ murder: Accused says he never meant to kill former partner

Kenneth Gafa, who stands charged with murdering his former partner in Żebbiegħ two years ago told police that he never meant to hurt her but simply wanted to scare her when he fired a shotgun in her direction. Police Inspector Daniel Zammit told a court today that Gafa, 39, of Marsa, told him that he thought Christine Sammut was in her van together with a member of her family when he decided to fire the shot. Mr Gafa was granted bail in August after being under preventative arrest since December 2010 after he was charged with the murder. Ms Sammut  was shot in the neck and chest. He said that he had been in a relationship with her for 15 months but they broke up six months before the incident. He said that he owed money to her father and other members of her family and they would regularly threaten him. When he saw her in the car and thought that a family member was with her he decided to fire the shot. The inspector said that on the night in question Gafa' spotted Sammut's van and followed her. He had told the police that he got out of the van when he fired the shots. But  CCTV showed that the shots were fired when the accused was still inside his car. As the sitting drew to a...