Accused makes unauthorised call to daughter

A man accused of fatally stabbing his former partner in San Gwann told his seven-year-old daughter in an unauthorised phone call he was sorry about what had happened.

The call was made from prison on Sunday, a court heard yesterday.

Following an application filed by the Police Commissioner regarding the phone call, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard PS Bernard Zahra explain that although inmates could phone as often as they wished they were only allowed to contact people they were authorised to speak to.

In this case, the accused, David Norbert Schembri, was not authorised to contact his daughter. A digital recording of the telephone conversation was exhibited and played in court.

Consequently, Magistrate Scerri Herrera ordered the director of prison not to allow Schembri to phone his daughter at her maternal grandparents' house or to come into physical contact with the girl before she testified in the compilation of evidence against him.

Schembri, 28, is pleading not guilty to the murder of 32-year-old Josette Scicluna, the mother of his daughter, in San Gwann on May 3.

During yesterday's sitting the magistrate heard Scicluna's neighbours, Chantal Cadoo Cali and Fleur Cilia, explain how they heard a loud noise and ran into the victim's apartment to see Schembri stabbing her repeatedly.

Cadoo Cali said that while she was in a shop across the road from her apartment she heard a loud sound, ran into the block of apartments and up the stairs, saw that Scicluna's door was open, ran in and "saw David stabbing Josette".

She ran back out to ask for help and when she was walking back up the stairs she met Schembri coming down but he did not tell her anything.

Cilia followed her neighbour to the witness stand and explained that she was in her apartment when she heard a noise and went to see what it was.

"I heard the screaming of children, entered Josette's apartment and saw the little girl jumping up and down and saw the accused stabbing Josette from the back. She was lying on the floor," she said, speaking in English.

Cilia went on to explain how she took the girl into the apartment of Cadoo Cali and stood behind the door.

"Then he came out and arranged his hair. He was covered in blood and said that now we can call the police. He then left. I went into Josette's flat. She was lying in a pool of blood, her speech was not clear and she was trying to get up but could not manage," she said.

Cilia said that while she waited for the ambulance to arrive she spoke to Scicluna in an attempt to keep her conscious. She told her that her daughter was alright and that she would be too.

The case continues.