A court heard how a woman got the fright of her life when she discovered a Chinese man hiding on her roof asking her to phone the police claiming he was being chased by someone wielding a chopping knife.

The witness was testifying in the compilation of evidence of 29-year-old Xiao Guan, who is pleading not guilty of chasing two Chinese men with a knife, on the evening of October 18.

The incident occurred on the same day that The Sunday Times of Malta published a story, saying that the accused, who worked as a kitchen assistant had only received €752 for all the hours of work he had performed between April and October.  Mr Xiao had also claimed that he had been threatened and assaulted by his boss.

Xiao Guan

Later that day, two Chinese men had allegedly turned up at his room in Marsa asking him to move out. It is being alleged that an agitated Mr Xiao refused to leave and then chased the men with a knife. No one was hurt in the incident. While one of the victims was found hiding on the roof, the other Chinese man managed to escape.

In court today, a neighbour living in the same quarters where the accused used to share his room with other foreign nationals, took the stand.

She recounted that at around 7.30pm, she went up on the roof to take down a carpet, when she heard people running.  All of a sudden she came face-to-face with one of the victims, whom she saw jumping from one roof to another. The witness, who recognised the victim in court, asked him what was he doing on her property.

“Sorry, sorry, help, help, please call police. There is someone [chasing me] with a big knife,” the court heard as the witness recounted how the incident unfolded.  

She added that she rushed back inside and decided to head to the Marsa police station. Meanwhile the Chinese men on the roof pleaded to her to let him in, saying he was afraid he would get stabbed.

However, the witness said she refused to do so as she was afraid for her safety.

She pointed out that after finding the Marsa police station closed, she dialled the emergency number 112, and by the time she went back home the police started arriving on site. At this time, she saw the accused, surrounded by a number of migrants with his arms raised up.

During cross examination by defence lawyer Chris Chircop, the woman said that at no point she saw the accused chasing the two men with a knife.

Meanwhile, the court also heard how the weapon was only retrieved at a later stage, when a Ghanaian man handed it to the police.

This was revealed by police officer Graziella Zammit. She also testified that one of the victims had told them that he had “recorded” the alleged aggression on his mobile phone. However, when they had tried to go through this recording on the same night, the battery of the device was flat.

The case is being heard before Magistrate Doreen Clarke. Inspector Robert Said Sarreo is leading the prosecution while lawyer Alexander Schembri is parte civile for the two Chinese victims.