The victim of a Gozo murder went to the Marsalforn apartment where he was killed to fight and settle a long-standing issue with the man accused of stabbing him to death, a police inspector said on Friday.

CID inspector Shaun Pawney said police investigations revealed that Fawaz Najem, 25, had gone to an apartment where Maher Aljasem lived with a group of men, armed with wooden beams, metal pipes and even a wooden chair.

He said Aljasem suffered extensive injuries, mainly to his head and back with investigations showing that he was in a defensive position when he was injured.

According to Aljasem's housemate, Fawaz and his group started the fight as soon as he answered the door, eventually turning on Aljasem when he appeared. 

Inspector Pawney was testifying in the compilation of evidence against 24-year-old Aljasem who stands charged with killing a co-national in Marsalforn earlier this month during a confrontation between two groups of Syrians in an apartment.

He also stands charged with possessing a weapon during the crime and breaching the peace. He was additionally charged with slightly injuring Syrian national Kazem Abdalaa with a knife.

Inspector Pawney explained that Fawaz went to Maher’s house to settle an issue, which had started months ago and which had already led to a fight earlier that day of the stabbing on May 7.

Fawaz wanted to slash Maher's throat, housemate told police

Maher, he said, lived in Marsalforn with another man, Ahmed El Hamdi, who opened the door when he heard a knock. According to El Hamdi, as soon as he opened, Fawaz asked for Maher “because he wanted to slash his throat”.

He told the police that seconds later, the group assaulted him with pieces of wood and metal pipes, injuring him in the process.

Pawney said that according to Maher, he was showering upstairs when he heard a commotion downstairs and saw a group of men beating up El Hamdi.

As soon as they saw him coming down the stairs, the men stopped hitting El Hamdi and turned their violence to him. He told the police he was dragged out of the apartment and into an adjacent construction site where the men continued hitting him.

The inspector said Maher told the police that he was waving a flick knife to scare them away but according to court-appointed experts, the victim had suffered a stab wound apart from slash wounds.

He said the victim was taken to hospital by three men but the police have not yet determined their involvement, if any, in the fight.  

A police sergeant who was first on the scene, Shaun Tabone, testified that Maher admitted with him to having stabbed a man after taking a knife from his hand and hitting him with it.

He also told him, before being taken to hospital for treatment, that the group that assaulted him had been picking on him for quite some time.

Under cross examination, Pawney confirmed that the aggression began inside the accused’s apartment and continued at a construction site next door.

He said that according to El Hamdi, six to eight people turned up at his apartment asking for Maher. “Most of his injuries were on his back and it seems he was in a defensive position. He had no lacerations. The blood inside and just outside the apartment was El Hemdi’s because he had a deep head wound,” he said.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech presided over the case which continues next week.

Lawyers Peter Fenech, Elena Fenech and Amy Zahra were defence counsel.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Deborah Camilleri and Matthew Xuereb appeared parte civile for the victims.