A man accused of filming a fellow diner having sex with a woman at the Luqa boċċi club allegedly owned up to sharing the video without the couple’s consent but shrugged it off saying “Feliċ will have his two days of fame”. 

Mark Cachia Zammit, a 35-year-old delivery man from Birżebbuġa, posted that comment in a Messenger group chat after a video of a sex scene, filmed during an evening meal, went viral on Facebook. 

The whole episode landed Cachia Zammit in court  facing criminal charges as the prime suspect behind the filming and non-consensual sharing of the footage, with his table companions being summoned as eyewitnesses. 

Cachia Zammit’s lawyers are claiming that he lacked criminal intent since he never meant to harm the alleged victims who had “tacitly consented” to the filming. 

When the proceedings resumed this week, two of the accused’s friends who witnessed the unfolding of events that evening both appeared to agree that Feliċ “did what he did freely” and appeared to “enjoy the attention” of his table companions. 

They were dancing 'more and more intimately'

One of the witnesses recalled arriving last at the venue that September evening.

He had been invited along by Cachia Zammit and when he got there, the rest of the group were already seated, waiting for dinner to be served. 

Feliċ and the woman were sitting next to each other “chatting normally”.

Grabbing a drink at the bar, he waited until starters were followed by the main course and then joined the others at the table, sitting at one end, facing the bar. 

“Everybody was chatting in smaller groups at the table,” explained the witness, who said that he was on his mobile phone while eating.

He suddenly heard shouting. 

“Feliċ and the woman were dancing intimately with their clothes on... Feliċ was enjoying the attention he was getting,” as others at the table egged him on, he explained.

The couple returned to their seats and but went back to their dancing, their movements “getting more and more intimate”. 

'Come on Feliċ! You’re king!'

“Feliċ appeared to be holding back while she egged him on, removing his clothes,” said the witness, stressing that at that moment he chose to focus on his food. 

The woman led Feliċ towards a billiards table, that had been shifted to make space for their gathering, “and they had sex there” to shouts of “come on Feliċ! You’re king!”.

The witness was not pleased with the unexpected turn of events. 

“I went there to eat and ended up in all this. I had thought it would just be a meal, a drink and then back home. I have a girlfriend,” explained the witness, annoyed by the hassle that the meal with friends had landed him in. 

Another eyewitness testified that the couple “seemed to know each other”.

The woman - a stranger to the witness - had allegedly joined the party of male friends on their way into the club. 

“They ended up entwined (gew kobba), hugging and kissing,” said the witness.

And as the situation grew more intimate, so did the comments. 

Asked who was behind those comments, the witness said that he “recognised the voice of Mark Cachia Zammit”. 

Given the angle of filming of the video which ended up on social media, the witness claimed that the person filming must have been Cachia Zammit. 

'Feliċ will have his two days of fame'

When the footage went viral the following morning, those present at the meal were shocked and confronted the accused about it, court heard.

“All reached the same conclusion that he had filmed it,” said the witness.

Later, the accused allegedly admitted his mistake in a group chat among friends, but shrugged it off saying: “Feliċ will have his two days of fame".

During the sexual episode, the bar owner had ordered the couple to stop, telling them to “go outside or go to the bathroom”. 

But when his orders were ignored multiple times, he closed the entrance to the club and went back to his cooking. 

Questioned about the couple at the centre of attention, the witness said “Feliċ did what he did freely. No one forced him".

Moreover, he seemed to be aware that he was being filmed because “he began to pose and wave, conscious of the filming”. 

“What about the woman,” asked the prosecutor. “She too,” came the reply. 

Cross-examined by defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi, the witness confirmed that he too was holding his mobile phone at the time of the incident. 

He was scrolling casually because, after a while, he lost interest in what was going on around him.

“Were you on a video call?” pressed on Azzopardi. 

“Yes, because someone called me and I answered. He [the caller] asked: ‘what’s all that noise?’ And I hung up.” 

The case, presided over by Magistrate Nadine Sant Lia, continues. Inspectors Paul Camilleri and Kurt Farrugia are prosecuting.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta are defence counsel.