Terence William Zammit, 29, is accused of shooting Mario Farrugia in the mouth in Hamrun on 19 October, 2000, and with being in possession of a firearm without a licence issued by the police commissioner.

Mr Zammit said he had known the victim for three years and that he had never argued with him. He told the jurors that he had borrowed money from him since he worked in the property sector and needed money.

Some time before the incident, he explained, he had the opportunity to purchase property in St Paul’s Bay and had asked the victim to be his partner in this business venture. They had agreed to meet the following day to settle the amount.

Zammit said he was not an expert on firearms but a fortnight before the incident he was in a field with his friends and had found the firearm in a wall. He said he was curious to see if it worked and took it home. Zammit said he fired four shots in the direction of the wall before his friend told him about the safety lock the weapon had.

On the day of the incident, he explained, he was going to meet Mr Farrugia and decided to take the firearm along with him. He said Mr Farrugia was a taxi driver and due to the fact that most taxi drivers carry a firearm, he wanted to see if he was interested in purchasing this one.

He said that when he arrived at his house, he took out the firearm to show it to him.

He insisted that when Mr Farrugia saw him with the weapon in his hand, he thought he was about to shoot him and assaulted him. In the scuffle, he said, a shot was fired and blood started pouring out of Mr Farrugia’s mouth.

Zammit said he then defended himself from Mr Farrugia’s wife and when men arrived some time later, he assaulted one of them because he was scared.

Following the defendant’s testimony, his defence lawyer Manwel Mallia began to address the jurors. This was followed by the prosecuting officer’s speech. The jury is expected to come to an end tomorrow.

Dr Manwel Mallia and Dr Giannella Caruana Curran are appearing for the accused while senior counsel to the Republic Mark Said is prosecuting.