A woman has described how Jeremie Camilleri hit her in the head with a stone and declared he was "the king of Gżira" after mowing down and killing Pelin Kaya. 

Fiona Brincat gave evidence in the compilation of evidence against Camilleri, who is accused of murdering the Turkish woman when he rammed his car into her while high on cocaine. 

The witness told the court that she had run out of cigarettes and caught a cab to Gżira to buy a fresh supply.

But she had barely got out of the taxi and approached a shop when she sensed someone walking towards her.

She had just caught sight of a woman, later identified as the victim, lying on the street and was telling her partner, “poor soul! Jaħasra, miskina,” when the stranger walked up to her, whipped off his top and suddenly hit her on the head with a sizeable stone. 

Pelin Kaya was murdered an hour into her 30th birthday. Photo: Facebook

“Why?”was the only word Brincat could utter, taken completely off guard. 

But all that her aggressor replied was, “the king of Gżira” and turned away, walking back to the BMW smashed into the glass front of the KFC shop on the other side of the road. 

'My head was smashed'

As soon as she felt cold blood trickling down her face, she left, seeking safety.

“I escaped. There were no ambulances on site. And my head was smashed. He could have killed me,” said the witness, adding that the doctor who had treated her at the health clinic had put that down on the medical certificate. 

Asked by the court whether she could identify her aggressor, the witness replied, “100%,” turning round and pointing directly at the accused seated at the dock next to his interpreter. 

The witness said that Camilleri only hit her once but the wound was jagged and needed careful suturing. 

She recalled how at the time of the incident, many people were shouting at the aggressor, saying  “what are you doing? Crazy!” and taking videos and photos of the man. 

Police officer 'haunted for days'

A police officer from the Sliema police station testified about the call that came through around 1.10am on the night of January, reporting that a woman had been knocked down on Testaferrata Street, Gżira.

“To tell the truth, the sight of the victim continued to haunt me for several days,” said sergeant Sandro Mangion who described the scene of the incident which he soon realized was no ordinary traffic accident but most likely a murder case. 

An emergency specialist had told the witnesses that the victim had little chance of survival. 

Mangion then recalled hearing shouting. 

It was Camilleri, handcuffed and arguing with RIU officers who had to taser him and were trying to calm him down. 

A third party eyewitness told the sergeant that the BMW driver had thrown stones at his car, at people and also at the body of the woman lying on the ground. 

Everybody on site was scared and all said that the driver had got out of his car and threw stones at them and at the victim.

The sergeant also recalled how two days after the incident, a woman had turned up at the police station reporting how Camilleri had hit her on the head with a stone when she dropped by Gżira to buy cigarettes. 

There were stitches on her head, explained Mangion who had taken down her report. 

A Gżira resident who lived close to the incident site, had slept through the whole episode only waking up to the news on social media the next morning. 

He went out to his car before heading to work around 8am, recalled David Buhagiar.

He had parked it at the central strip near the Paul and Rocco petrol station the previous night and that was where he found it the next morning, its side damaged. 

By that time, most of the debris caused by the crash had been cleared away. 

All he saw was the broken glass front of the KFC outlet. 

Police instructed him to obtain a quote for the damages but several panel beaters appeared reluctant to provide a valuation. 

The car owner had finally decided to pay for the repairs, forking out €212.40 for which he produced a receipt in court. 

The case presided by Magistrate Rachel Montebello continues. 

Inspector Kurt Zahra is prosecuting, assisted by AG lawyer Kaylie Bonett and Nathaniel Falzon. Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene Daramanin are defence counsel. Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Charlon Gouder and Ramona Attard appeared parte civile.