French crewmen testify in case against bouncers

A French nurse aboard the Jeanne d`Arc yesterday told a court how he was shocked to see some four bouncers repeatedly kick a drunken sailor - he had thought their intention was merely to escort him out of the bar.

"I tried to convince (Theophile) Hoata to leave the bar to avoid trouble but the bouncers took hold of him. My colleagues and I didn`t intervene because we thought they`d just take him out," Michel Franck said.

"But he ended up on the ground, surrounded by bouncers. I was shocked to see him being kicked. I didn`t see the bouncers` faces and I can`t recognise any of them."

Franck testified before Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani-Grima in the compilation of evidence against John Fiteni, 34, of Marsa; Martin Fiteni, 39, of Swieqi; Tonio Zampa, 37, of Valletta, and Frank Calleja, 32, of Mgarr who are pleading not guilty to seriously injuring Hoata at the Footloose Bar in Paceville last Saturday morning.

They are also charged with breaching the peace.

Franck yesterday said he was a nurse on the helicopter-carrier Jeanne d`Arc. On Friday night he had a cocktail party on the ship and at about 10.30 p.m. he caught a taxi to St Julian`s with another two nurses, Dominique Romby and Edward Lacanau.

When they arrived at St Julian`s they walked around for a while and then went for a pizza. When they finished their meal at about midnight, they went to a discotheque.

They left the discotheque after a few minutes because it was too crowded and went to Footloose Bar across the road. At the bar, they ordered a beer and walked to the bar`s inner area, Franck said.

"I saw Hoata holding onto a man who seemed to be annoyed at the situation. The man looked Maltese to me.

"Hoata looked very drunk. When I realised what was going on, I tried to intervene to prevent an unpleasant situation. I felt that I should honour my country`s reputation.

"So I approached him and guided him towards the bar. There I tried to persuade him that it was time to leave and although he didn`t like the idea he accepted," Franck said.

"I think that, in the meantime, the Maltese man must have reported Hoata to the bouncers because, after some time, a bouncer came towards us.

"I told him that I was French and I was looking after Hoata. At that point I don`t know what happened exactly. All I know is that I was holding Hoata and I saw him make an aggressive head movement towards the bouncer but he didn`t hit him.

"Suddenly about four or five bouncers came and took hold of him. My friends and I didn`t intervene since we thought they`d just take him outside. But when they pulled him, he resisted," he said.

"He ended up on the ground. I`m not sure if he fell or was pushed since it was dark, the air was heavy with smoke and quite a few people were passing by.

"The bouncers crouched around him and kicked him. But I can`t tell which of them did the kicking," he said.

Franck said he remembered the kicks very clearly since he was shocked at what was going on. He said he identified the men as bouncers because they were wearing a black jacket with the word "security" printed in yellow on the back.

Hoata was first kicked inside the bar area near three of four steps that led to the road.

"My friends and I went to see what happened to Hoata but by the time we arrived near the steps he was not there anymore. We found him in the road where he must have been dragged," Franck said.

"He was face down in a pool of blood. His arms were stretched outwards. When I lifted him up I saw that his face was covered in blood, his nose was broken and he had a wound on his forehead. My friends and I lifted him and moved him to the side of the road.

"We asked onlookers for tissues to wipe his blood-stained face and asked for the ambulance and police to be called. A bouncer provided us with some tissues," he said.

Eventually the police and the ambulance arrived and the three nurses went with Hoata to hospital.

Dominique Rhombi and Edward Lacanau followed Franck to the witness stand.

They did not recognise any of the defendants as the bouncers who kicked Hoata because they only saw them from behind and it all happened very quickly, they said.

Rhombi said he believed that the police and the ambulance had been called by a bouncer.

Theophile Hoata wore sunglasses to the witness stand but was asked to take them off. He explained that he wore them to conceal black eyes and a broken nose.

Hoata explained how he went to Footloose Bar in St Julian`s on Friday night after waitering at a cocktail party on board the Jeanne d`Arc.

"I arrived at the bar at about 10.30 p.m. and met three friends, also sailors. I drank three whiskies and coke. Then my friend Herie Tepa and myself moved to another bar inside the same establishment.

"We ordered a bottle of vodka and then another friend joined us so we shared the vodka between three. We drank it with orange juice and I must have drunk a third of the bottle.

"Once we finished the bottle we bought another one but as far as I remember we didn`t drink that one. I danced on my own and kept dancing for a long time. That`s the last thing I remember because the next time I regained consciousness I was in hospital and didn`t know why," he said.

Hoata did not recall being involved in any argument and did not remember how he got injured. He said he could hardly communicate with the doctors in hospital since he didn`t know any English.

But he explained that he had looked in the mirror and seen that he had a cut on his forehead and a broken nose. He said he could only breathe from one nostril.

Hoata said this was the second time he ever drank vodka although he did drink other alcohol occasionally.

The case continues this morning.

The defendants were granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm1,500 each and on condition that they do not go anywhere near the ship or Paceville until the ship leaves.

Police Inspectors Jeffrey Cilia and Martin Sammut are prosecuting.

Dr Martin Fenech is appearing for the defendants.