Former prime minister Dom Mintoff was in another room when a shot was fired by a man who was accused of attempting to murder him, the then-inquiring magistrate told a court.

Karmenu Grima was accused of attempting to murder Mintoff on October 15, 1979.

Forty-five years later, Grima’s heirs are suing the government, claiming that their father was a “sacrificial lamb” in a political frame-up and was unjustly accused of trying to assassinate Mintoff.

On that October morning, Grima went to Castille with a letter containing sensitive information about one of Mintoff’s top ministers, Lorry Sant.

The visit ended in gunshots. Grima had to be treated with over 40 stitches after he was hit three times by the police and hit over the head with a hard object. Grima was the only one to suffer gunshot wounds.

News of the attempted murder angered Labour supporters who ransacked and set fire to Strickland House, the then-offices of Times of Malta. They then broke into opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami’s house and attacked his wife and children.

This notorious day became known as ‘Black Monday’.

After this, Grima was arrested and taken to Mount Carmel Hospital where he was not allowed to see his family for six months. He spent nine years in Mount Carmel, being discharged in 1989.

Grima died in 1995.

Testifying before Mr Justice Mark Simiana, retired judge Joseph Filletti – who was the inquiring magistrate at the time of the incident – said Mintoff was not present when a shot was fired.

The notorious day become known as ‘Black Monday’

Speaking from memory, Filetti recalled the statement then-chief messenger Victor Pace gave to Filletti, who had confronted Grima.

Filletti recalled that Pace told him that a person called Karmenu Grima had walked into Castille and insisted on talking to the prime minister.

Although Pace told him that he could not as he needed an appointment, Grima kept insisting. At that point, they got into a scuffle and Grima pulled out a gun and fired a shot that hit the ceiling.

Filletti said he could not remember whether he had made any recommendations in his inquiry report.

So many events took place that evening that Filletti, as the inquiring magistrate, had to investigate both the burning of the Times of Malta building and the Fenech Adami’s family, among other incidents. Therefore, he explained that it was hard for him to remember all the details.

Grima was shot three times

In a previous sitting, there was an issue as the police would not present their reports about the incident in court saying they were considered to be “privileged documents”.

Testifying again yesterday was police superintendent Jurgen Vella who, this time, presented documents that included Filletti’s proces verbal, the charges and the testimonies of Grima and Pace.

Quoting Grima’s testimony, the superintendent said that Grima had first gone to speak with the police commissioner about his desire to speak to Mintoff. He then went to retrieve a gun from this residence in Luqa.

Once he got the gun, he first went to then-minister Agatha Barbara’s offices. Following that, he finally went to Castille where he had a scuffle with Pace.

The superintendent explained that police documents show that, after Grima fired a shot, officers in the area returned fire, hitting him three times.

False testimonies – Peppi Azzopardi

Broadcaster Peppi Azzopardi took the stand and spoke about a journalist investigation he had written for the former newspaper Alternattiva that claimed that Pace and police major Eddie Theuma had given false testimony.

This showed that the whole thing was a “blatant lie”, Azzopardi said.

The investigation exposed inconsistencies in Pace’s testimony. When he initially testified, he said that Mintoff was not present. Months down the line, Pace said that Mintoff was there when the gun went off.

Whole thing was a ‘blatant lie’

In an interview with the newspaper, Theuma – who was on scene when the incident happened – said that Mintoff was not there.

However, he admitted to Azzopardi that he lied in his testimony: “They pushed me to say I heard Mintoff talking behind a door.”

Pace sued the paper for libel. He lost the case.

“They beat him up. They kicked him. They punched him and they did not let him see his family for six months,” Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi also recalled how, when he visited Grima at Mount Carmel, the one thing he told Azzopardi was how much he loved Mintoff.

Also, Azzopardi said that PBS were “complicit” in this frame-up for the political spin that they used.

“The spin was that this was a Nationalist who went to kill Dom Mintoff. This was a lie. He was a Labourite, and he loved Dom Mintoff like many others. He just wanted to visit him,” Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi added that when thugs attacked Fenech Adami’s family, PBS chose to report how the Labour club of Birkirkara was attacked instead.