Accused denies wanting to kill victim

A Cospicua man standing trial for attempted murder yesterday took the witness stand and told jurors he never intended to kill anyone.

Emanuel Zammit explained how he had gone to Michael Angelo Fenech's Madliena house because Fenech wanted to test a gun silencer he made for him. But the two men got into a fight over payment.

"I could not believe that Kelly (Fenech) had told the police I had tried to kill him. I only believed it when I heard him testify against me before Magistrate Antonio Mizzi.

"When I was questioned by the police, I thought they were trying to trick me and that the most he could have told them was that I stole his gun. I would have never thought he'd tell the police I tried to kill him."

Zammit, 65, testified before Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia in his trial by jury. He pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of Fenech in Madliena on February 23, 1998.

He is also pleading not guilty to stealing court exhibits, including a sub-machine gun, from the strong room at the law courts on the night between September 18 - 19, 1993.

Zammit yesterday explained how he first met Fenech in 1994 when the latter approached him and asked if he could fit a silencer onto a pistol he owned. The two men met several times after that.

Zammit made a couple of silencers for Fenech and charged him about Lm25 for each one. But Fenech did not always pay him immediately.

On the day of the incident Fenech picked him up from St Andrews and they went to his house. They had agreed to go there because Fenech was not satisfied with one of the silencers and wanted to test it in Zammit's presence before he paid him.

Zammit went on to give a detailed, animated description of what happened once he was at Fenech's house.

"He told me to fire the gun without the silencer first, so I did. But I fired it in the air and the bullet probably landed in the road which explains why no bullet was found in his drive-way."

Here Zammit stood up and acted out what he did next. He explained that Fenech asked him to fire a shot using the silencer but instead of shooting, Zammit tapped his foot, explaining that he did so because he wanted Fenech to pay him.

"But when he told me that he'd pay me another time I told him he'd get his gun back once he pays up and I put the gun in my haversack.

"Kelly then produced a pistol and pointed it at me. I got the gun and as I was about to give it to him I took the pistol from him and told him he'd get both guns back once he paid me."

Zammit said Fenech hit him so he brandished a gun and Fenech ran away.

"I did not want to kill him. I just wanted him to pay me. If I wanted to kill him I could have just fired - I had two guns in my hands at the time."

The trial continues.