A Gozitan man who survived an attack with a broken bottle yesterday told jurors how while he was in Paceville five years ago, he saw a man slashing his friend’s neck with a bottle before doing the same to him.

Carm James Grech, who at the time of the incident was only 17 years old, explained that he did not remember much about what happened on the night in question but clearly remembered how a man cut his friend’s neck with a bottle and then did the same to him.

Mr Grech was testifying during the trial by jury of Anthony Schembri, 42, from Hamrun, who is pleading not guilty to seriously injuring Stephen (Steve) Sam Portelli which was followed by his death and to seriously injuring Mr Grech during a fight in Paceville five years ago.

Despite several attempts to save his life with a number of surgical interventions, Mr Portelli, 27, died on 9 November 2001 following the injuries he sustained during an incident in Paceville on the night of 27 to 28 October that year.

Mr Grech explained that he was with his friends Mark, Noel and Steve in Paceville on the night. He said they went to a bar called Insomnia where they drank and enjoyed themselves. He said that at one point, his father called him and he went outside the bar. He said that when Steve came out, he told him that he had had an argument with a couple of people inside the bar.

He said that while they were outside, he saw the accused running towards them and saw him hitting Steve and then turned onto him. “I saw him with a bottle in his hand but I do not know whether the bottle was broken. I remember looking at Steve covered in blood,” he explained.

When asked, Mr Grech said he never had any arguments with the accused and was not involved in any fights with anyone inside the bar before he left to meet his father outside.

“I don’t remember much of the incident. I only vividly remember the last piece when Steve and I were hit with a bottle,” he said.

Mr Grech’s parents, Anthony and Vanessa Grech, also testified yesterday. Mrs Grech explained that she is Carm James Grech’s stepmother and lived in Gozo. She explained that on the day in question, her husband and she came to Malta to meet their friends and went for a meal in a restaurant in Marsascala. She said that after the meal, since they knew that their son was in Paceville, they decided to go to Paceville to meet him and give him a lift back to Gozo.

Mrs Grech said that when they were close to Burger King in the centre of Paceville, she saw her son and he approached her and told her that he and his friend had been involved in an argument.

“All of a sudden I saw a man running towards us, zigzagging through people standing in the square and I did not even see my son getting injured. I saw Steve holding his throat and then collapsing and saw my son sitting on the pavement on the other side of the road with blood gushing out of his neck,” she said.

Mrs Grech continued that the man who attacked Steve and her son had something in both hands. “I don’t know what they were, but he had two objects in both hands. I never saw anything so horrible in my life. I didn’t realise my son was hurt in this entire ordeal,” she said.

She said her husband was assisting Steve while she went next to her son to see if he was OK. “When I saw his wounds I went to call my husband and told him that we had to take Carm to hospital,” she said.

Testifying, Mr Grech (senior) said he was in Paceville when he saw Mr Portelli and his son running towards them, telling them that they had had an argument with someone inside a bar. He said they pointed to the person they fought with inside the bar and he was surrounded by police on the other side of the square.

“All of a sudden, I saw him running towards us with a broken green bottle in his hand and he hit Steve and my son. When I went next to Steve he told me: ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die’,” he explained. When asked, Mr Grech said his son and Mr Portelli told him that they had argued over a woman.

On his way out of the courtroom, Mr Justice Galea Debono, who is presiding over this case, asked where his son was and Mr Grech replied that until Sunday he was OK but yesterday morning said he did not want to testify in court. He was told to convince his son to come to court or else he would be arrested and brought to court under police custody.

Another witness to testify yesterday was Police Sergeant Antoine Buttigieg who practically saw the incident taking place and was the first to arrest the accused. He explained that he was stationed in Paceville when a woman informed them that there was a fight inside Insomnia bar round the corner from where he was standing.

He said that when he went close, the bouncers were ejecting Carm Grech, Steve Portelli and the accused. He said they continued to argue so he decided to tell the Gozitan duo to wait across the road.

He said he spoke to Mr Schembri who told him that while he was having a drink at the bar, he was punched in the eye. He said that while he was speaking to the accused, Anthony Grech, the father of one of the alleged victims, approached Mr Schembri and they were talking.

“All of a sudden, I heard a loud noise and seconds later I heard breaking glass and when I looked I saw Mr Grech and Mr Portelli with blood on their neck. I ran towards Mr Schembri and arrested him immediately. I went back to Mr Portelli who was holding his neck and was losing a considerable amount of blood. His clothes, from his neck downwards were covered in blood. Mr Portelli told me: ‘Police, I’m going to die’,” he explained.

When asked, PS Buttigieg said he and the other police officers present found a Heineken bottle which was bloodstained but photos of this bottle were not shown in court. He said Mr Schembri looked panicked and seemed confused.

Dr Stephen Muscat testified that Mr Grech had a large, 10cm-long cut on the left side of his neck and had another laceration further down which was three centimetres long and was deeper than the other. He said he was grievously injured and that the injuries were not life threatening because his arteries remained untouched.

Another two doctors testified that Mr Schembri had slight injuries to his left eye which were compatible to a punch. It was a blunt injury, they said.

The trial continues today.

Senior Counsel to the Republic Mark Said prosecuted. Dr Franco Debono and Dr Jose Herrera appeared for the defence while Dr Giannella Caruana Curran and Dr Manwel Mallia appeared parte civile for the alleged victims.