Accused leaves courtroom during victim's evidence

The victim in an attempted murder trial yesterday told jurors he suspected that his elder brother had sent a man to wait for him outside his Madliena house to kill him.

Michael Angelo Fenech took the witness stand and explained that when he was questioned after the incident in 1998 he told the police he had recognised the man who shot at him to be Emanuel Zammit, whom he knew as Leli Xkubetti. But Fenech added that Zammit had no reason to kill him so he must have been sent by someone else.

"I had a very good relationship with my brother Alfred until 1995. But after that year business problems started to develop... He had threatened to kill me before the incident, which is why I suspected that he had sent Zammit to kill me," he said.

Fenech, who is also known as Il-Kelly, testified before Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia in the trial by jury of Zammit, 65, of Cospicua who is pleading not guilty to his attempted murder, in Madliena on February 23, 1998.

Zammit is also pleading not guilty to stealing court exhibits, including a sub-machine gun, from the strong room at the law courts on the night of September 18, 1993.

Fenech took the witness stand yesterday morning and explained that on the day of the incident he got home at about 2.15 p.m. and parked his car in the drive-way.

"When I arrived in front of the main door my house keys fell from my hands and when I bent down to pick them up I heard a gunshot that had been fired with the use of a silencer..."

At this point Zammit shouted out: "You are not saying the truth" and he stood up as he mumbled something. The judge ordered him to keep quiet, sit down and let his lawyers speak for him.

Fenech went on to explain that he recognised the sound of the gun fired with a silencer because he had an idea of the way guns worked.

"When I heard the sound I looked to my left and saw him standing some nine feet away from me, holding a large gun and then I heard him tell me something..."

Here Zammit stood up a second time and said: "I can't listen to this any longer" as he walked out of the dock and towards the door that leads to the quarters where the accused are kept in custody. But before he went into the quarters he stopped and added: "Do you think he's a saint?"

Defence counsel Giannella Caruana Curran followed her client and the two walked back a few minutes later. Zammit took his place in the dock and apologised to the judge and to the jurors for his behaviour.

Yet, Zammit, now inside the court room, blocked out Fenech's testimony by keeping his hands over his ears for most of the time.

Fenech resumed his testimony and said: "When I saw him try to reload the gun I walked towards him and hit him with my brief case. It all happened very quickly. He fell over and I ran into the road at bullet speed.

"I stopped my neighbour, Mrs Satariano, who was driving past, told her what had happened and asked her to take me to the police station. But as we were speaking I saw Zammit leave on a black bicycle. The bicycle was not mine," he said.

Fenech said they gave chase until they got to the ice-cream kiosk in Bahar ic-Caghaq where Zammit got off the bicycle and left it leaning against a wall. Fenech got out of the car but when he got within 15 feet of Zammit the latter pointed a pistol at him and he went back into the car.

Zammit got back onto the bicycle and cycled on until he reached a road leading to a chicken farm. He threw the bicycle over a wall and ran.

Fenech, who had meanwhile contacted the police, waited on the main road until officers arrived on the scene a few minutes later.

Fenech went on to explain that he knew Zammit by sight and had seen him in the Cospicua and St Andrew's areas and once in the early 1990s he saw him speak to his elder brother Alfred.

He explained that when questioned by the police after the incident he told them he suspected his brother had sent Zammit to kill him.

Under cross-examination, the witness explained that he recognised the sound of the gun because he had heard similar sounds in films.

Dr Caruana Curran asked him whether the allegations could have been inspired by a film and he replied that it was not the case.

Fenech placed his right hand on his forehead and told the lawyer he had been shot there and had also been injured on his left side on another occasion.

She asked him if he had a lot of enemies and he replied that having one was enough.

Fenech also explained that he had pending court cases over business matters with his brothers and with others.

The trial continues.