A man shot on New Year’s Eve while patching up a fence at his fields in Paola, allegedly by his farming neighbour, recalled the “loud” bang he heard and the sudden pain he felt as lead pellets struck his face. 

The incident took place while he was fixing the wooden fencing that separated his lands from the adjacent property, belonging to Martin Delia. 

The two neighbours had long been at loggerheads and were also involved in various court cases prior to the shooting episode. 

That morning, at around 7.15am, Anthony Azzopardi had received a call from Delia complaining about his fox terrier. The dog had somehow managed to find its way into his (Delia’s) property, damaging his son’s onion crop. 

“You know I didn’t send it (the dog). Tell me where it got through and I’ll fix it (the fence),” Azzopardi had replied. 

Delia insisted that the dog had got through from an area where Azzopardi’s sister kept some ducks. 

But Azzopardi denied that, saying that had the dog approached that area, it would have attacked the ducks. 

However, later that morning, he set to work, checking the wooden fencing and fixing any areas that needed to be replaced. 

As he got to the spot close to the ducks, he heard a shot, followed by another, and soon spotted his neighbour together with his son, Michael. 

“Hi Martin, tell me where the dog came through,” called out Azzopardi to his neighbour. 

Again Delia pointed out the spot near the ducks.

As Azzopardi bent down to inspect the fencing, he heard a loud bang.

“Pumm. I heard the loud explosion in my ear and felt pain in my face,” recalled Azzopardi, when testifying at the first hearing of the compilation of evidence against Delia, who is pleading not guilty to attempted murder. 

As he looked up, he saw Delia take aim and a second shot rang out. 

“He was some 12 steps away,” said the victim.

The shots hit him on the head, shoulders and chest

The shots hit him on the head, shoulders and chest and he was dripping blood all over the place as he ran away, crying out for help and taking cover behind a tree. 

His brother and sister, who lived near the site of the incident, rushed to his assistance and took him to hospital. 

The witness identified his neighbour in court and confirmed that he had seen him aim his hunting shotgun in his direction. 

“I tried to cooperate and maintain peace,” Azzopardi said, insisting that the two had not been arguing.

“Not at all. I tried to resolve the problem by fixing the fence.” 

Since the shooting, he said, he has had problems with his left eye, sees flashes of light and risks losing his eyesight. 

He also has a defect in his ear and lead pellets are still embedded inside his body, the witness said when a defence lawyer pointed out that the victim had no visible marks. 

Earlier in the sitting, investigating inspector Wayne Camilleri recalled how he had spoken to Azzopardi shortly after he was admitted for emergency treatment. 

He was covered in blood and was sure that it was the accused who had fired at him. 

There was “some history” between them, with various court cases concerning title of ownership over the adjacent lands. 

Back at the crime scene, a court expert was tasked with gathering footage from the CCTV cameras positioned around Delia’s lands. 

The expert immediately noted that parts of the footage had been erased. 

Inside the accused’s property was an open safe, without a padlock. 

There, the police found eight hunting weapons all registered in the name of the accused’s son. 

However, further checks showed that a ninth firearm, a Luigi Franchi hunting rifle, was missing. 

The accused’s son was also interrogated and although at first he insisted that all nine weapons were in their place, he later admitted that that missing weapon was elsewhere.

The son led investigators to the farmhouse and after rummaging inside a room, overflowing with clothes, he pulled out the weapon. 

Three boxes of ammunition were also retrieved from that room. 

Accused told officers he was sorry victim had survived

Camilleri also pointed out that three officers had reported to him how the murder suspect had remarked in their presence that “he was sorry that the victim had survived” and that “he wanted to finish what he had started”.

Those comments were allegedly made while the officers were escorting Delia from hospital to the police lockup. 

The sitting came to an end with another request for bail, with the defence highlighting the serious medical condition of the accused who needed dialysis treatment every three days and also had a heart condition. 

The prosecution rebutted that treatment could still be afforded while the accused was in jail and argued that civilians were still to testify. 

The court, presided over by magistrate Monica Vella, is expected to decree on the request in chambers. 

The case continues. 

AG lawyers Kaylie Bonnett and Nathaniel Falzon prosecuted. Lawyers José Herrera, Matthew Xuereb, Daniel Attard, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri are appearing parte civile.