A young man yesterday told jurors in the trial of his brother, who is charged with their father's murder, how he tried to dismantle his father's guns to ensure they would not work because his father often threatened him, his four siblings and his mother with the weapons.

In a heart-wrenching testimony, 23-year-old William Axiak spoke about the "ugly life" which he and his family lived under his father's rule.

"I used to do what I could so the guns would not work. I'd dismantle parts of them. There was nothing else I could do in light of the threats."

The youngest of five siblings, Mr Axiak, told jurors how his father threatened and beat him, his mother, his three brothers and sister and his mother's sister who lived with them.

He was testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in the opening day of the trial by jury of his 30-year-old brother Raphael Axiak, of Xewkija, who is pleading not guilty to the murder of his father, Anthony, when he shot him in the head with a pistol in Victoria on January 29, 2002.

William Axiak clenched a rosary bead in his fist while on the witness stand and when asked about it he said: "Maybe Our Lady will help me... help everyone".

Speaking through sobs, he told jurors how he was always terrified at home. "There were lots of threats with weapons, knives..."

At this point he broke down crying and his brother, Raphael, also cried from the dock. He stepped off the witness stand for a few seconds until he calmed down as the silence in the court room was broken only by the brothers' sobs and the hissing of the air conditioners.

William Axiak then resumed his testimony with his voice breaking again: "I was very scared of my father. He always beat me. He did not let my mother leave home so that people would not see her bruises. He did not hit my aunt in the face but at the back of her head and other parts of her body... He also beat my brothers and sister, even as adults. He always wanted things done his way."

He was speaking in a Gozitan accent which, when muffled through his tears, made him difficult to understand so that his words had, at times, to be repeated by the prosecution or defence lawyers.

"He had weapons, revolvers, shot guns and other things. Knives, too. He had several hiding places, such as in the field, at home and in the garage," he said.

Asked why his father beat him and his family his reply was: "I don't know... Maybe because I did not hear him when he called me."

William Axiak said he never discussed his father with his siblings and feared going to the authorities because his father always ordered them not to tell anyone about what was going on at home.

He recalled several episodes of physical abuse. On one occasion, he was at home and heard his father say "tonight he won't get away with it" when talking about his brother Raphael. He saw him threaten him (Raphael) with a small gun. This was about two years before the incident.

Then, he recalled, on the day of incident he was helping out his brother Angelo on a building site, close to the area where the incident happened. He did not see his father there that day and his brother Raphael was in a garage cleaning it and loading loose material into a truck.

William Axiak was working on site when he heard a loud noise which he defined as a "boom".

"Then I heard shouting, I looked outside and saw my father. He was standing. I ran into the passageway and heard "boom boom". I ran downstairs. It sounded like the sound I had heard before.

"I saw my father on the ground, Raphael and Angelo were crying. I did not see anything in Raphael's hand. We called for an ambulance. Then the police came. I did not see wounds on Raphael or on my father. There was blood but I could not bring myself to look."

In what seemed like another emotional breakdown, he continued: "It's been an ugly life... since birth. When I saw my father lying on the ground, I cried. Seeing your father on the floor and your brothers crying and when you hear those noises... it's not nice."

Under cross-examination he said: "I saw things that are too horrible in my life. I saw my father punch my mother, hold her at knife-point, bite her head, hit her with a tin. Whatever he laid his eyes on, he'd hurl at her. He was all the time breaking things. He'd throw things. Plates, vases went on the floor, at the wall or at mother.

"Nothing could be done... I was scared he'd turn on me. He had beaten me before. He beat everyone."

He explained how his aunt had to live with them so his father could use her. He and his siblings were not allowed to speak to their mother unless they addressed her as "the donkey" (il-hmara). She was not allowed to sit with them at table but had to stay to the side and eat their leftovers.

He had gone to a lawyer and told him a bit about the situation at home. He went after office hours because going there meant breaking the rule of not talking about what was going on.

Angelo Axiak followed his brother to the witness stand and said that on the day of the incident he and his brother William went to work on a building site and, nearby, Raphael Axiak was clearing a garage. That day Raphael told him that he thought his father had realised that they had gone to a lawyer to speak about their situation.

Angelo Axiak said that when he helped his brother, Raphael, clear the garage he (Raphael) showed him a pistol that he brought out of a drawer then put it back.

After some time Angelo Axiak went back to the building site to continue working and some time later his brother Raphael went to ask him and his other brother William if they needed anything from home as he was going home for a while. William asked him to bring them sandwiches.

Raphael Axiak went home and returned with the sandwiches and they all went back to work.

"Then I heard a bang. I stopped hammering to listen and after some five minutes or less I heard shouting. Then a shot and another one. I ran downstairs, terrified. I heard shouting and saw Raphael and my father fighting. My father started swearing and threatening to kill Raphael.

"There was a weapon between them as they were fighting. I wanted to separate them but I was scared... Then I saw Raphael push my father and turn him on his back. That was when Raphael fired two shots. My father fell to the ground. Raphael kicked him in the face. I turned Raphael and started slapping him to bring him back to his senses.

"As I slapped him he brought the weapon up to his head. I put it down. He pulled it back up and I took it and threw it away. Then I called an ambulance and called my elder brother Alex who was working nearby," he recalled.

Angelo Axiak said the weapon looked like the one he had seen in the drawer but was not sure it was it. He had seen weapons before as his father had threatened him and his family with them.

The witness than went on to recall episodes of violence that involved his father and members of his family.

The trial continues this morning.

Senior Counsel to the Republic Dr Mark Said is prosecuting.

Dr Giannella Caruana Curran and Dr Emmanuel Mallia are appearing for the accused.