The CEO of a gaming company has been accused of attacking his friend after an evening dip in his pool went awry and saw the two men exchanging blows. 

British National Michael James Taylor, 38, who holds a Maltese identity card, was arraigned in front of Magistrate Leonard Caruana on Wednesday. 

Inspector Warren Galea told the court that at 5 pm on April 7, the Qawra police station received a call from Mater Dei Hospital that a man with rather serious-looking injuries had turned up at the emergency room after being referred from the Mosta health centre. 

Galea went to the hospital himself, where he said he immediately spotted the victim due to his visibly swollen eye. 

The victim was shown to a private room in the hospital, where he told Galea that the incident had happened five days prior on April 2. 

On that day, the victim received a text from his friend ‘Mike’ inviting him to his house that evening. The man said this was not uncommon, as Mike frequently invited him to his home to drink some wine and swim in his pool, typically after work. 

The victim went to Taylor’s Mellieħa villa, as he had done several times before and drank some wine with his friend before heading into the pool. 

The man said he suddenly felt woozy and blacked out the moment he got out of the pool. 

When he came to, he said he found Taylor above him, pinning him down.

In an attempt to free himself, the alleged victim headbutted Taylor, who reacted aggressively and began to kick and punch him. 

Taylor, the alleged victim said, then grabbed a knife from the kitchen cabinet and threatened him, so the he grabbed his clothes and ran out of the villa. 

Galea said when he tried to question the victim further about the nature of his relationship with Taylor, he insisted that they were just friends and that he had not reported the incident as he was afraid that the accused would retaliate. 

However, when the pain from his injuries became too big to bear, he went to the clinic seeking relief. 

Police obtained a warrant and arrested Taylor the very next day, Galea said. 

He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his friend, causing him to fear violence as well as threatening and insulting him. 

Defence lawyer Matthew Xuereb said the accused fully intended to cooperate and admit to the charges, however, the defence had found issue with the first charge. 

This is because the severity of the injuries suffered by the victim had not been properly established and there was no indication as to how lasting they may be and the impact they have had on the man. 

After some back and forth with the prosecution, the issue remained unresolved and Taylor pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

However, his lawyer Alex Scerri Herrera told the court he intended to cooperate and admit to the second and third charges, and was maintaining the plea of not guilty until the matter of the nature of the injuries could be resolved. 

Making a case for bail, Scerri Herrera said that there was little worry that Taylor would try to tamper with evidence by communicating with the victim, as considerable time had elapsed between the incident and the police report and the accused had not attempted to contact him during that time. 

After hearing submissions, Magistrate Caruana granted the bail request against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of  €5,000.

Taylor was ordered to sign the bail book at the Qawra police station three times a week and observe a curfew. 

Attorney General lawyer Federico Barbaro Sant also prosecuted.