Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1532501
4 NEWS 4 JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 FEBRUARY 2025 JURORS have started hearing evidence against a father and son charged with mur- dering a 21-year-old man in 2017. Kurt Grech, known as in-Nemes, and his father Joseph are pleading not guilty to the murder of Brandon Pace on April 2 in Giovanni Barbara Street. They are be- ing charged with wilful homicide, unlaw- ful possession of knives, breaching public peace and good order and threatening the victim's mother and the mother of Grech's son. Grech is also being charged with griev- ously injuring the mother of his son with a knife. His father Joseph is also charged with having threatened the victim's sister with a knife during the fight. The prosecution said that at about 8pm on April 2 the police were informed of a murder in Ħamrun. When they arrived on the scene, police were told that the victim was found in a pool of blood in the common area of an apartment block. Investigations found that Pace was at his girlfriend's home when Kurt Grech arrived and started insulting the girlfriend, with whom he has a son. Grech told police that he went there be- cause the girlfriend called his mother and insulted her over an issue involving their son. He took two knives with him in case Pace was there. Pace confronted Kurt and Kurt's parents arrived in a separate car. A fight erupted involving the girlfriend, Pace, Kurt and his parents. Witnesses told police that, at one point, they saw Pace fall to the ground and Kurt jumped on him. Both had knives on them in the moment. According to Pace's mother, when her son tried to walk into the apartment block, Jo- seph stabbed him in the back. Kurt Grech had to be taken to hospital for treatment after suffering injuries to his side. The father and son were charged in court days after the incident. Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Katheleen Grima and Edward Gatt are defence coun- sel. Lawyers Rachel Tua and Ishmael Psaila are representing the victim's family. At- torney General lawyers Kevin Valletta and Kaylie Bonett are prosecuting. Kurt Grech and his father Joseph Grech (Photos: James Bianchi/MediaToday) Jurors hear evidence in murder trial of father and son accused of killing 21-year-old Transport Malta withdraws application to increase moorings in Kalkara A controversial application to reorganise the mooring of boats in Kalkara, which triggered fears of a fully-fledged marina has been officially withdrawn. A spokesperson for Transport Malta has confirmed with Mal- taToday that "a more compre- hensive redesign of the area" is being formulated. The aim of the new plan is to ensure a "better organisation" of moorings and maximising effi- ciency, the spokesperson said, adding that this aligns with the broader strategy to improve mooring areas across Malta in a holistic and sustainable manner. The revised approach will "pri- oritise better planning and inte- gration, enhancing accessibility and optimising the use of our maritime spaces", TM said. The now aborted plan had envisaged the creation of 334 berths, which practically occu- pied the whole creek as con- firmed in photomontages sub- mitted in 2022. These included 90 berths for smaller boats un- der 6m in length, 80 berths for boats which are between 6m and 8m long and 161 berths for yachts between 8m and 10m and a maximum width of 7m. Back in October 2019, former transport minister Ian Borg had reacted to reports on the plans submitted by Transport Malta by saying that the application was limited to a reorganisation of existing berths. He also assured Kalkara resi- dents that the marina "will not be growing by even one centi- metre". But the plans presented in a re- vised application in 2020 still en- visaged berths over 35,000sq.m of space inside the creek along Triq Sally Port and Triq ix-Xatt. An existing marina with 173 berths already covers an area of 21,000sq.m in front of a boat- yard below Villa Bighi. While not objecting to the re-organisation of mooring fa- cilities for existing boats, the Kalkara council had "strongly" objected to "the addition of fur- ther berths" which included fa- cilities for "large yachts." According to the council, the works as proposed, would have had a negative impact on the area in terms of visual aspect, accessibility to public space and would have increased marine traffic to an area which is popu- larly used for social and cultural activities. It had also warned that the in- crease in moorings will simply add to the already existing con- gestion for boat residents and boat owners to park in the area. Objectors to the project in- cluded a large number of boat owners, fishing enthusiasts and Moviment Graffitti which had successfully campaigned against a similar project in Marsaskala in 2021. A photomontage of the original proposal, which has now been scrapped