The victim of an attempted murder, Gordon Calleja, yesterday testified in court that he was stabbed “for no reason whatsoever”.

Mr Calleja was testifying during a trial by jury that started yesterday morning against Louis Mallia, 39, from Valletta, who is accused of the attempted murder of Gordon Calleja on 30 September 2004. Mr Mallia is also accused of illegal possession of a weapon as well as breaching the peace.

Mr Calleja testified that he accompanied his wife to Valletta in order to sign a contract. On his way to the notary, he asked his wife to stop at Freedom Square near City Gate and walked up to the stalls that line the bus terminus to buy a packet of cigarettes.

He said that he met Mr Mallia and asked him not to ring at his door again, at which point, Mr Mallia started swearing and shouting at him and walked away.

The witness added that a few days before, in the afternoon, the defendant’s brother, Brian Mallia, rang his doorbell and asked him for a third person’s telephone number, while he noticed the accused and another man hiding some blocks away.

On his way back to Freedom Square just before finishing walking past the bridge, said Mr Calleja, the accused came running towards him holding a penknife between his ring and middle finger.

According to Mr Calleja, the defendant shouted “I’ll hit you with this” (lilek b’dan intik) at him and hit him on the left side of his neck, then stabbed him twice in the chest. Mr Calleja said he defended himself by struggling and grabbing Mr Mallia from the hair and made him kneel to his the penknife away from him. He told Mr Mallia that he would let go of him only if he let go of the penknife, then he pushed him away and Mr Mallia ran away towards the bus terminus shouting at him, “Now go to hospital”.

Mr Calleja said he was drenched in his own blood and his wife, who witnessed the episode from her car, took him to the Floriana Health Centre where it was found that he was losing blood and oxygen. He was taken to St Luke’s Hospital by ambulance and upon reaching the Emergency department, he passed out. He spent some seven days in hospital and spent a fortnight with metal sutures on his neck and stitches were later applied. He was also treated for a partially collapsed lung and spent a week with a chest drain apparatus attached to his side. Mr Calleja said he was convalescent for two months.

On counter examination, Mr Calleja denied he was involved in other cases concerning violence. Mr Calleja declined answering whether he ever took drugs with Mr Mallia and denied that he had ever invited Mr Mallia to his house.

After the prosecution, led by Dr Aaron Bugeja, finished questioning its witnesses, defence counsel Dr Malcolm Mifsud asked his client to testify.

The defendant, Mr Mallia, testified that he came to know Mr Calleja at the Detox Centre. He said that a few days before the incident his brother went up to Mr Calleja’s home while he continued walking towards Valletta and did not know what his brother’s intentions were.

He testified that around 3pm he was near the stalls at the bus terminus. He said he met Mr Calleja who asked him in a rough way to stop going near his home and Mr Calleja told him he owes him Lm50. According to Mr Mallia, Mr Calleja pulled him by the hair and waved his hands towards him, stating that he felt a number of scratches on his face and other parts of the body. He also said he saw Mr Calleja branding a cutting instrument. Mr Mallia said he punched Mr Calleja and then escaped towards South Street in order to go at his mother’s house. He later said that he was arrested at his home at around 10.30pm. Mr Mallia testified he never wanted nor tried killing Gordon Calleja.

Diane Calleja, Mr Calleja’s wife, testified that she only knew Mr Mallia by sight prior to the incident. She said she went at the notary’s in the morning in order to sign a rent renewal contract but he was told that she needed her husband’s signature. At 4pm the couple, accompanied by her brother went to Zejtun, then drove back to Hamrun where they lived, left the youth there and drove to Valletta to the notary’s office near Hastings Gardens. However, they did not find him there. Then she drove towards Freedom Square as her husband wanted to buy cigarettes.

As she saw her husband returning from his errand, Ms Calleja said she saw Mr Mallia come from behind her husband, stabbing him in the neck, then turning around and stabbing him in the chest. She testified that her husband pushed Mr Mallia in order to extract the knife from his chest. She said an elderly woman who was passing by pleaded Mr Mallia to stop.

Ms Calleja said her husband held Mr Mallia by the hair and confirmed that the knife never left the defendant’s hands. Ms Calleja also said that her husband was dependent on drugs some time back, but now he is clean.

Inspector Ramon Mercieca said the police stationed at the St Luke’s Hospital at 8.20pm reported that a man was admitted in hospital with stab wounds and the patient and his wife stated that the wounds were inflicted by Louis Mercieca, known as il-Lalu.

The inspector said he sent policemen to arrest the man and bring him to the Valletta police station. Mr Mallia confirmed that the incident took place outside City Gate and accompanied the inspector and a forensic expert to the place. Inspector Mercieca said they searched for the weapon without success in different places, including the ditch, inside bins lining the carriageway, the defendant’s house and nearby streets.

Inspector Mercieca testified that Mr Mallia bore scratch marks on his face and had missing tufts of hair. The accused had confirmed that he had an argument, however, he denied using a cutting instrument and accused Gordon Calleja of possessing it. Mr Mallia said they had an argument about drugs and testified that he owed him Lm50 in connection with drugs.

When counter examined, Inspector Mercieca said no one from the taxi stand and the stalls confirmed witnessing the incident.

Forensic expert Mario Scerri testified he examined both Mr Mallia and Mr Calleja. The latter, said Dr Scerri, had a wound on his neck and two on his chest. He said that Mr Calleja suffered partial collapse of a lung due to a stab wound. If not treated, he said, such a wound could lead to death depending to the medical condition of the patient.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono presided over the trial by jury. This morning Dr Mifsud will continue addressing the jurors. This will be followed by the prosecution’s address and the counter address by the defence. It is expected that later in the day, Mr Justice Galea Debono will address the jury.