A group of youths testified about the drunken stranger who pestered them as he blabbered incoherently about “bombs” and “Daphne Caruana Galizia”, until one of them pushed him away, causing him to topple backwards heavily to the ground.

That push, which sent the tipsy man crashing to the ground, brought the youths’ outing to Rabat, for tea and pastizzi, abruptly to an end and landed one of them on the wrong side of the law.

Stevie Pisani, a 21-year-old Cospicua resident, is facing charges for grievously injuring the drunk man, placing his life in manifest danger and disturbing public peace.

The youth in denying the charges, while his alleged victim is still recovering in hospital.

The incident took place on February 11 at around 10.30pm near a parking area known as l-Għalqa ta’ Kola right opposite the Rabat pastizzeria where the party of friends had just bought their drinks and food to eat outside. 

The accused’s friends took the witness stand this week, each recounting the events of that evening from the moment that the stranger approached them outside the shop, following them as they tried to shrug off his unwelcome presence.

The youths, three men and a woman, had coaxed the accused into joining them on their outing to Rabat, recalling his reluctance to do so because he feared falling ill before his planned holiday that was due in two days’ time. 

“We felt sorry for having urged Stevie to join us that evening,” said one of the witnesses who had driven the group to Rabat in his white Toyota Vitz.

They had just exited the shop and had barely touched their food when a man stepped out of the pastizzeria, shouting and talking nonsense as he pulled down his trousers and urinated into the metal grid covering a street vent, while onlookers watched and laughed, taking videos of the man. 

Then, all dishevelled, his shirt pulled out of his trousers and belt undone, the stranger ambled over to the group of friends, blabbering on and on about “bombs” and “Daphne Caruana Galizia and papers”

Victim says no one could stand up to him

“They killed me four times… but no one can stand up to me, shouted the man, reeking of alcohol.

“I was going to die two weeks before Caruana Galizia,” he went on, hovering near the youths as they sat on a bench, trying to ignore him. 

But the man edged closer. 

“Are these your pastizzi, my friend,” asked the stranger. 

“Yes,” replied the accused.

“Good! Because I’m going to take them,” insisted the man as one of the accused’s female friends stepped in, took the bag of pastries and moved away so as to avert further arguments.

But as she sat on the bench, playing with her mobile and back to the parking area, she heard the accused repeatedly telling the stranger to “bug off, you’re bothering us”

The group moved to another bench but the man followed them and did so again when they moved to another bench a second time round. 

“You can’t tell me to go away… Not even bullies will make me go away,” went on the man, hands on hips as he approached the accused.

“How far,” asked prosecuting inspector Godwin Scerri.

“Almost face to face,” said one of the witnesses, adding that he too had addressed the stranger, but only once.

“Go away, my friend. Leave us in peace.”

But after twice trying to avoid the man, his friend - the accused - had finally pushed the stranger away.

Man hit signpost before falling backwards

One of the witnesses said that the accused had pushed the victim “slightly” with one hand, while another witness described the movement with two hands, insisting that the accused had “only touched him [the victim]”.

The woman in the group said that she did not see the push.

She was sitting with her back to the man, while Stevie stood beside her, but she felt the victim’s close presence and then suddenly heard a noise as the man hit some signpost before falling backwards into the parking area. 

Another eyewitness, who was at some distance away from the group, also testified.

He recalled hearing someone telling the victim to “bug off” and then saw someone pushing the man.

“Who approached who,” asked the prosecution.

“The elder man remained where he was, but a man approached and pushed him,” said the witness, his version immediately questioned by defence lawyer Alfred Abela who showed the witness photos produced in evidence.

Those images appeared to indicate that it was the victim who had approached the accused. 

The accused’s friends also recalled how third parties intervened after the incident, assisting the victim as he lay unconscious while the youths looked on for a while. 

Asked whether they had sought help, the youths explained that after moving their car which was blocking a third-party vehicle, they all got into the car and waited for some 15 minutes.

“We panicked,” recalled the driver.

“We knew the police would call. We waited, listening to music,” said the woman. 

Then they decided to leave.

Call from Rabat police station

But they had not gone very far before they received a call from the Rabat police station.

Eyewitnesses had identified their car model and number, putting investigators immediately on their tracks. 

Soon after, both the driver and the accused had given their version of the incident. 

Pisani insisted that the alleged victim had stepped too close and even tried touching his face, testified Scerri, explaining that the parties had been some “three or four metres apart” and that the victim had been harassing the whole group not just the accused. 

The inspector confirmed that footage showed the alleged victim, unsteady on his feet, even as he entered the pastizzeria before the incident. 

Another police officer, alerted to the incident, had found the victim lying unconscious, surrounded by many people, blood oozing from his right ear. 

Someone told him that it had not been just a fall but that someone had pushed the victim and the suspect had left the scene in a white Toyota vehicle. 

The victim’s car was still parked nearby.

Two officers confirmed that the front right tyre of that vehicle was missing. 

The car was being driven on the metal rim of the wheel.

Later that evening, the victim’s relatives had changed the wheel before removing the car from the scene. 

Defence lawyers claimed to have information that the victim had been involved in a hit and run earlier that same evening. 

A policewoman testified that no such incident had been reported during her watch but added that she would check about the defence’s claim.

The prosecution informed the court that although the victim was no longer in intensive care, he was still in hospital and attempts to communicate with him had failed since he was in a “mentally confused state”.

In light of that information and after having heard the eyewitnesses’ testimonies, Magistrate Rachel Montebello granted the accused bail, ordering him not to approach the alleged victim in any way.

A protection order had been issued at arraignment stage.

The court also declared that there was sufficient prima facie evidence for the accused to stand trial on indictment. 

The case continues.

Inspector Godwin Scerri is prosecuting. Lawyers Alfred Abela and René Darmanin are defence counsel.