An Irish man killed following a standoff with police in Malta, hours after he allegedly stabbed his ex-partner to death, pointed a fake gun at police before being shot dead.
Edward Johnston (50) was killed by Maltese police on a beach in the seaside town of St Julian’s in the early hours of yesterday after a three-hour standoff.
Nicolette Ghirxi (48), Mr Johnston’s former partner, was stabbed to death in an apartment in Birkirkara, a town about 7km west of the capital Valletta a couple of hours earlier.
Police found the body of the woman in her apartment in Swatar, Birkirkara, at about 2am yesterday. She had suffered upper-body knife injuries and two knives were discovered close to her body.
Johnston had gone to the Hilton hotel in St Julian’s at midnight and asked for a drink but pulled out a gun when he was told the bar was closed.
Police were alerted when they received a report of a man in St Julian’s wielding a gun and saying he had murdered someone. Police commissioner Angelo Gafa told a news conference yesterday that Johnston told police he had murdered a woman.
A police negotiator was brought in and two police teams were deployed, one to Birkirkara, where they found the woman’s apartment door locked and had to break in to find the victim dead.
The other unit was deployed to the Hilton. Police cordoned off the area behind the Hilton Hotel where Johnston was later shot dead.
Johnston was in the sea with a gun pointed at his head at St Julian’s and despite police negotiators descending on the scene, he leapt at one of the officers, resulting in him being shot.
He was transported to Mater Dei Hospital and was later confirmed dead, Mr Gafa confirmed.
It transpired the gun Johnston was holding was a replica of a Beretta pistol.
Ms Ghirxi’s family have said Johnston began harassing his former partner when she ended a two-year relationship between them. They alleged he ran a number of fake social media accounts which were used to harass and slander Ms Ghirxi.
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Some of the posts, seen by the Irish Independent, targeted Ms Ghirxi’s employment at HSBC in Malta.
A colleague revealed that while Ms Ghirxi was discreet about the harassment, everyone at work was aware of it due to the public nature of the posts.
Some of the posts displayed Ms Ghirxi’s profile picture and on occasion, her home address.
She filed police reports on two occasions with regard to her former partner, Maltese police confirmed.
There were no previous reports of violence between the two but in April, Ms Ghirxi filed two harassment reports against Johnston after receiving some emails from him when they broke up.
However, she decided against carrying out a risk assessment, telling police and social welfare officials she did not believe she was at risk.
She filed another report of harassment in May, again linked to emails.
At the time, police established that Johnston was not in Malta, Mr Gafa said, describing the emails as being harassment but not of a threatening nature.
“The victim herself told us she did not feel threatened and messages we saw also indicated as much,” Mr Gafa said at a press conference yesterday.
In July, the victim again contacted police about a number of slanderous social media posts about her and said she suspected Johnston.
Ms Ghirxi was so unsettled by the situation that she shared her Facebook account credentials with a family member “just in case something happened to her”.
Last Thursday, she told police by email that Johnston may be in Malta.
Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament and a Maltese citizen, said: “Nicolette Ghirxi should be alive today. Instead, Malta must bury another daughter. Another woman murdered, with her former partner the prime suspect.
“Our grief must turn into action. Our anger must fuel change. The epidemic of violence against women cannot go on. Not one more. Be their voice.”
Senior sources have confirmed Johnston was an Irish citizen but had not lived in Ireland for a number of years.
He had no previous convictions in this jurisdiction.
The police in Malta reported him to be a former soldier from Ireland but a Defence Forces spokesperson said: “The Defence Forces has no record of service for a Mr Edward Johnston.”
A spokesperson for the Irish embassy said it was “aware of the incident” and would offer consular assistance to relatives.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance, and added that the department did not comment on the details of individual cases.
Post-mortems are still taking place and investigations are ongoing.
With reporting from the ‘Times of Malta’
News Catch Up: Monday 12 August 2024