Three witnesses were called to testify in court this morning to explain what happened on the night of 21 May, when Libyan nationals allegedly attacked bouncers at a Paceville night club. Their version of events were particularly colourful, with one particular witness caught lying before Magistate Claire Stafrace Zammit.
The three witnesses, none of whom are licenced bouncers, could recall a tall man with a covered face, wielding a sword and hitting one of the night club personnel. However, none of the witnesses recalled any of the two men accused with attempted murder actually holding a sword.
The two men, Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem and Ibrahim Ben Jeddi, both 33 years old, are facing charges of attempted murder.
One of the alleged victims of the attack, Mr William Briguglio testified first. He told the court that he was not a bouncer, but worked as customer care with the night clubs, Clique and Dejavu'. Asked to explain what his job entailed, the witness said that "he did a bit of everything".
He recalled how an argument broke out, and a glass table was broken. He remembered a lof of glass on the floor and then saw the two accused men going on the second floor of the establishment. They came later to the club and one of the securities told them that they could not come back in. According to the witness, the two Libyans were standing in front of the club and later returned carrying swords. He told the court that one of the accused hit him in his hand with a radio set and said that the accused had parked the car so that they can easily run away.
When asked about whether any of the accused carried the sword, Mr Briguglio said that the sword was being carried by a third person who was not present in court. He told Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that Ramzi was wearing a baseball cap and the other person was not wearing a shirt and had his face covered.
In the cross examination, the witness said that his official job is customer care and confirmed that he did not have the bouncer's licence. He said he had no fixed description. "I help out with the bar and refill the bar with drinks. I do a little bit of everything, from fixing a light bulb, stocking bars with drinks and replacing door handles."
Defence lawyer Kathleen Grima, who appeared for one of the accused, asked the witness to explain difference between a customer care and a bouncer. "I do whatever needs to be done," Mr Briguglio insisted. Dr Grima however told the court that the only difference between a customeer care and a bouncer is that a bouncer has a licence, while a customer care does not.
Another employee was called to testify. Carmelo Zammit, who also works at the club but did not specify if he worked as a bouncer or not and reiterated what previous witnesses said before him, "I do a little bit of everything."
He told the court that at first, the argument broke out between the accused men, another person (the tall man who later appeared with a sword in hand) and a woman. When the glass table broke, the tall man spoke with Mr Zammit and told him he would be willing to pay for the broken table. The witness told the man he did not need to pay, but told him to leave the establishment and never come back. He confirmed that the accused were frequent visitors to the night club.
Mr Zammit told the court that the men returned to the bar at around 7:30am. "I remember, one of the security officials told me to be careful and when I looked up I saw this huge sword coming down on me." He told the court he was hit by the sword in the upper part of his thigh. He presented a photo of the cut before the Magistrate. He said that if it wasn't for his lighter that was in his pocket, the cut would have been much worse.
However, the defence noted that the medical report mentions a bruise, not a sword cut.
During the cross examination, the witness was pressed to say whether he was carrying a pointed weapon or not. Mr Zammit insisted that he was not. However, defence lawyer Kathleen Grima presented the witness with a set of photos which show Mr Zammit carrying a truncheon. He could be easily recognised in the photo because Mr Zammit has a very particular tattoo which extends from his elbow to the back of his hand.
A final witness, Mr Simon Cassar was called to the stand. He told the court he works as a helper at Clique and Footloose. Before his testimony continued, the Magistrate warned him that with his testimony, he might incriminate himself.
He decided to continue and mentioned four people who came back to 'attack them'. In this case, when Cassar was asked to explain his job description, he explained: "I do practically everything, I even clean the toilets" but insisted that his job is different from that of a customer care.
Cassar said that the men broke glass bottles and they tried to attack them. Sometime later, a man who was not present in court came back carrying a sword. He said that this man was particularly tall and well-built and had his face masked.
"I admit. I am Maltese, and I will defend the Maltese. I don't care about the foreigners." Originally he said the three people were carrying swords, but later could not confirm if it was one sword or more.
In the counter examination, defence lawyer Michael Scririha said that most of what the witness was saying was his personal assumptions.
The witness recalled how when the accused returned armed with a sword, the club was closed and people were not allowed to get in.
Asked multiple times if he was carrying anything to defend himself, the witness said he was not carrying anything and did not see other security officials carrying weapons. "My only concern was not to get hurt. I saw him coming with a huge sword. I don't think he was going to use it for kebab."
Following the testimonies, the defence requested bail for the two men. Both have local residency and have a clean police record. One of them is a refugee and has no intention of returning back to his country, Dr Scririha said.
Both men pleaded not guilty. Bail was denied. Case continues on 18 July.