Shortly after shooting his father in the head, a Gozitan man wailed hysterically when he told the police his father had just tried to kill him but, instead, he had killed his father, jurors heard yesterday.

Police sergeant Josef Camilleri and constable Mario Casha took the witness stand separately and explained how on January 29, 2002 they were informed of a fight in Victoria. When they arrived on site they saw a man lying face down on the ground and people around him.

Raphael Axiak was crying hysterically and told the officers: "He came to kill me and I killed him". PC Casha then escorted the accused to the Victoria police station and on the way Mr Axiak, sobbing, told him he had tried to shoot himself in the head after shooting his father, Anthony, but his brother had restrained him.

The two police officers were testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in the trial by jury of Mr Axiak, 30, of Xewkija, who is pleading not guilty to the murder of his father when he shot him in the head with a pistol on January 29, 2002.

Jurors also heard Police Inspector Antonello Grech explain that, when he spoke to Mr Axiak at the police station, Mr Axiak told him that his father had accosted him, armed with a gun, and tried to kill him but he managed to take the gun away and killed him instead.

The inspector later learnt that Mr Axiak's younger brother, William, told the police that the weapon belonged to Raphael Axiak. So the police spoke to William Axiak again.

In a statement to the police, Mr Axiak said he worked with his father in the construction industry. His father did not always pay him or his siblings regularly, however, he felt that his father treated him worse than the others. He told the police about the times his father had turned violent on him and his family and how they were brought up in fear, not even allowed to speak to their own mother.

Eventually, Mr Axiak said in the statement, he went to speak to a lawyer with two of his brothers and they told him all about their life.

On the day of the incident he took a pistol to the garage which he intended to clear. He told his brothers that the pistol would cause him to boil over and, when his brothers left the garage to work in their property, he toyed with the pistol shifting it from a drawer to his pocket.

He was clearing the garage when, all of a sudden, his father arrived and started arguing about a metal box which Mr Axiak had put in the truck as scrap. His father took away the box from the truck and said: "Who do you think you are? Do you think I'm afraid of you because you're a big man?" He also told his son he always wanted to kill someone before he died.

Mr Axiak told the police in the statement, that he saw his father reach for something in his pocket and, since he always carried a penknife, he thought he was reaching for it.

So he grabbed his father and beat him. He then produced his gun and fired. The two men continued fighting. Mr Axiak continued beating his father until he managed to turn him in a position with his back facing him and fired at his head.

When his father fell down he kicked him and told the police he was so scared of him, he thought he would not die.

The inspector later said that it eventually turned out that Anthony Axiak was carrying a penknife that day. Investigations showed he was a very violent man and his family lived in a state of terror.

Jurors also heard several examples of Anthony Axiak's violent nature from his sons.

Angelo Axiak explained that shortly before the incident he and his brothers had gone to a lawyer to speak to him about the situation at home. This was the first time they had broken their father's rule not to speak to anyone about these things. He explained that the lawyer was compiling information to take to the police after hearing his mother's version.

Asked why they wanted to take the case to the police, Angelo Axiak said: "We were scared of our father."

On the day of the shooting, his brother, Raphael, told him he believed his father knew they had gone to the lawyer. His brother also showed him a pistol and told him it would make him come to the boil. Angelo Axiak said he thought that by this his brother meant he would shoot himself.

"I would have never thought that one day this would happen. I hoped that one day my father would change his ways. I never hated him."

He earlier remembered an occasion when his father took him to a church and started challenging Christ to fight and also told Him he deserved to be crucified.

Alex Axiak, the eldest of five siblings, said that on the day of the incident he was across the road working. His father came next to him about five minutes before the incident and asked him why he had not finished a doorframe. Some time later he asked where Raphael was and left.

Minutes later, Alex Axiak said, he heard noises and shouting. At first he did not recognise the voice but then heard someone call his name. "When I looked out of the balcony I saw my father lying on the ground and my brothers Raphael, Angelo and William sobbing and calling for an ambulance."

"I then heard Raphael shout 'I killed him. What have I done to him? What has he done to us?' Then we all cried."

Alex Axiak recalled episodes when his father threatened him at gun point, even after he got married, and remembered his father causing problems at his wedding. He had thrown the sliced wedding cake on the floor, stopped celebrations short, took the newly weds to their new home and locked them inside.

He recalled another instance when his father threatened him with a gun because he had problems with his (the witness's) wife. He did not tell his wife about any of this.

As a child he remembered that his father kept weapons everywhere - at home, at work and in his Land Rover.

When asked about his childhood at home he said: "There were not many happy moments. My father was never a good example to us. I was very scared of my father because he might kill us. He beat my mum a lot. He destroyed everything at home.

"We used to hide under the stairs when he started breaking things. Our mother hid us there when we were little. She would stand in front to shield us. He continued beating her without bothering about anything."

Alex Axiak broke down as he remembered the time his wife gave birth to a son, who died during birth, his father laughed it off and did not allow his wife attend the child's funeral.

The trial continues this morning.