Court rules for indictment

A magistrate yesterday ruled that there were sufficient reasons for the indictment of a Zebbug man charged with trying to kill a man by repeatedly hitting him in vital areas of his body earlier this month. Magistrate Lawrence Quintano gave the ruling...

A magistrate yesterday ruled that there were sufficient reasons for the indictment of a Zebbug man charged with trying to kill a man by repeatedly hitting him in vital areas of his body earlier this month.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano gave the ruling after hearing several witnesses in the compilation of evidence against Philip Cauchi, 33, who is pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of Tonio Zammit and seriously injuring him in the early hours of March 5 at the Pender Place car park in St Julians. Mr Zammit is the son of Ninu Zammit, Minister for Resources and Infrastructure.

The magistrate heard the police explain that Mr Cauchi and his girlfriend claimed Mr Zammit was injured when he was run over by a car. But Mr Zammit insisted he was injured in a beating by Mr Cauchi.

Magistrate Quintano also heard court-appointed expert Mario Scerri explain that the injuries sustained by Mr Zammit were not compatible with those usually sustained when someone is hit by a vehicle. They seemed to be sustained as a result of being punched.

Police Inspectors Martin Sammut and Carmelo Abdilla are prosecuting.

Lawyers José Herrera and Roberto Montalto are appearing for Mr Cauchi and lawyers Emmanuel Mallia and Giannella Caruana Curran are appearing for Mr Zammit.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.