Etienne Ciantar said he was parking his car when he saw four men drag a man out from in front of his house and kick him repeatedly while he lay on the ground.

Mr Ciantar was testifying in a trial by jury against four men involved in a fight in Bugibba in the early hours of 11 March 2001. The men – Godwin Vella, 41, David Calleja, 39, Anthony Joseph Portelli, a 31-year-old soldier and Keith Caruana, 26, all from St Paul’s Bay, are accused of a number of crimes, including seriously injuring Alfred Cardona.

Mr Caruana alone is being charged with the attempted murder of Emanuel Farrugia, while Mr Portelli was allegedly his accomplice. These two men are also being accused of slightly injuring Mr Farrugia

Since Calleja had been found guilty of seriously injuring another person in 1992, he is also being charged with relapsing in view of previous convictions. In addition to these charges, Mr Caruana is accused of resisting arrest while Mr Calleja allegedly refused to obey police orders.

Mr Ciantar said he was parking his car at about 1am when he saw Mr Portelli pull up in his Opel Tigra. He said that he (Portelli) helped Keith Caruana to his front door because he was drunk.

“I saw a Mercedes pull up and the horn was sounded several times. By this time, Tony Portelli was back in his car and the Mercedes driver got out, began shouting and swearing and started banging on the Tigra’s window,” he said.

The witness said that at that point, Keith Caruana came out of the house to see what the hullabaloo was about. “I saw another car come on the scene and block off the Tigra’s escape route. Three or four men then set about Keith and began to beat him up. He soon fell to the floor and I saw them kick him while he was down,” he said.

The witness said he panicked and ran to a bar for help and told them to phone the police. He went back to the scene and said that he saw Tony Portelli being beaten with a piece of wood. However, he could not identify a broken baseball bat that had been submitted by the prosecution as evidence.

“At some point, Godwin arrived on the scene. He used to go out with my mum and saw me there. He said that he hoped that no one was picking on his kids,” said the witness.

Asked by the court to clarify his statement, Mr Ciantar said that he realised Godwin Vella was referring to him and making sure he was not being dragged into the fight. He said that he then saw his mother who told him to go inside and get out of the way. “I did and I went on to the balcony. Eventually a lot of police cars swooped in and I told them I had seen everything. But an officer told me to go inside and mind my own business,” the witness said.

Mr Ciantar’s mother, Patricia, also testified yesterday. Her version of events was different to her son’s in the details, but she also claimed that it was the men in the Mercedes who beat up Mr Caruana. She said that she was a passenger in a car that had pulled up behind the Mercedes. She said that the Mercedes driver sounded his horn and then some other men got out and began to beat up Mr Caruana.

The defence closed its case and Senior Counsel to the Republic Mark Said began his final submissions to the court. This will be followed by the defence before the judge gives his final address.

Senior Counsel to the Republic Mark Said is leading the prosecution. Dr Martin Fenech is appearing for Mr Vella and Mr Calleja, Dr Edward Gatt is defending Mr Portelli and Dr Anglu Farrugia is assisting Mr Caruana.