A man who was allegedly abducted and beaten up before managing to escape, had suffered injuries compatible to blunt trauma, a doctor testified in court on Wednesday. 

Christian Borg, Thorne Mangion, Tyson Grech, Jeremy Borg, Burton Azzopardi and John Luke Milton stand accused of involvement in a gang abduction of Carlos Schembri who was taken away in a van from his garage at Triq it-Taghbija, Rabat on January 21. 

The victim testified about his alleged ordeal in an earlier sitting, describing how he was first punched on the face and ordered to get out of his car, then bundled into a white Peugeot van and driven to Paola.

On the way, he was repeatedly questioned about his suspected involvement in the theft of a van that went missing from Christian Borg’s car company.

And all along he was beaten and threatened to have his finger chopped off unless he supplied information about the missing van.

One of the men also threatened to rape Schembri’s sister.

Schembri finally managed to slip away when his alleged abductors stopped at a Fgura petrol station, running as fast as he could go to a nearby police station.

Later that evening at around 6.15 he turned up at Rabat health centre with a 6-centimetre bruise on the left side of his forehead, a chipped lower incisor tooth and lots of bruising and scratches over his face.

Leonard Callus, the medical doctor who examined him, described the patient’s bruising on the cheeks, lips and behind the ears, with other fresh bruises on his wrist and hip.

He said a CT scan did not reveal any fractures, but the patient was referred to hospital emergency because of the nature of the bruising which was mostly concentrated on the left side of his body.

Those injuries, certified as slight save for complications, were compatible to blunt trauma.

Schembri had told the doctor that he had been involved in a fight, the court heard.

A police constable who spoke to Schembri and his mother when the pair went to Rabat police station minutes after leaving the health centre, testified that Schembri had told him about the beating he had suffered.

He recounted how he had been taken away forcibly in a van and how he finally managed to escape, testified PC Joseph Luke Gauci.

When asked to describe the alleged victim’s injuries, the officer said that he had noticed facial bruising and reddish marks on the back when Schembri pulled up his sweater.

As for the victim’s general behaviour, the witness described it as “normal”, not too agitated or upset.

The constable had informed his superior about the case and Schembri was directed to the Mosta police station since the Rabat police station was rather crowded at the time on account of another unrelated case.

“Did he tell you who had inflicted those injuries?”asked the defence. “ Yes,” said the officer, reading out the names of all six accused. 

As the hearing drew to an end, Jeremy Borg and Tyson Grech who up to that stage had not yet turned up in court, entered the hall.

That delay cost each of them a €150 fine and a warrant of arrest and escort to the next sitting.

Their lawyer explained that both accused had got stuck in Marsa traffic and besides, Grech had not been officially served notice of summons while in jail.

“Their problem” remarked the magistrate.

The others had been notified at the previous hearing but on that day, Grech had not been granted bail.

The court revoked the warrant of escort, but the fine remained.

The court decreed sufficient first hand evidence in respect of Milton. The defence declared that they were not contesting that decree.

Inspectors Roderick Spiteri and Sarah Kathleen Zerafa prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyer Karl Muscat.

Lawyers Giannella de Marco, Gianluca Caruana Curran, Stephen Tonna Lowell, Stefano Filletti, Michael Sciriha, Roberto Spiteri, Franco Debono and Matthew Xuereb were defence counsel.

Lawyer Shaun Zammit appeared parte civile.