'Death stared me in the face'

A man who was shot at seven times almost four years ago told jurors "he saw death staring him in the face".

"Death is ugly when you see it coming at you," Frangisku Fenech, known as Cikku Fenech, told the court yesterday.

Mr Fenech was testifying in the trial by jury of John Pace, 42, of Birkirkara, who stands charged with attempting to kill Mr Fenech and with being in possession of a shotgun without a licence on May 18, 2003. Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano is presiding over the trial.

Mr Fenech said that on the day in question he saw the accused walking around the fields close to the windmill where he lived, in Mosta, and the accused told him he wanted to speak to him.

He replied that he could speak to him from behind the wall but the accused got angry and told him that once he was refusing, he himself would go over to speak to him.

"His sweet voice suddenly was no more and he started shouting and swearing," Mr Fenech said.

Speaking fast and in a dialect which at times made it difficult to understand what he was saying, especially when speaking about technical terms related to agriculture, he readily translated these into English.

Standing uncomfortably in the dock, Mr Fenech said he had a condition in his leg which he needed to expose to sunlight for two hours a day. As he had spent a day in court on Monday, it was aching him. Asked if he wanted to sit down, he said he might as well remain standing "as a day of punishment".

Mr Fenech said the accused first shot at him twice from behind a wall.

"I heard pellets flying around me but the shots were fired from a considerable distance and while they could blind you, they could not cause serious harm.

"But then he came closer and I heard him shout 'Today is the last day you will see this place. This is how I wanted to find you: Alone'.

"He kept coming and I sought cover behind a 45-gallon drum. He came closer and fired twice at me, hitting the drum and toppling a bucket that was beside me," Mr Fenech said.

He said he then recalled he had a revolver in his Land Rover, which was parked nearby.

He ran to fetch it and fired four shots in the aggressor's direction, but made sure he was aiming way above his head.

"When I fired he panicked and then I realised I need not worry any longer. I did not want to kill him because had I wanted to, I would have fired at him directly," Mr Fenech said.

Mr Fenech insisted he had only fired his gun after being shot at four times.

He said the accused then fired at him again, but like the initial shots he was far away and the shot was ineffective.

Mr Fenech explained he had bought the revolver from a Libyan who had practically insisted he buy it as he needed some money, and since he had been held up before, he decided to take it and keep it in his Land Rover. Mr Fenech said he noticed the accused was using a sawn-off shotgun "like those guns used by those carrying out hold-ups. That's why he failed to hit me because you can't aim properly with such a gun".

He said the accused then told him "I will find you again".

"I told him he could come and speak to me but he had to watch what he was saying. Then I spoke to a neighbour and told him to call the police."

Mr Fenech said that some six years before the incident, he had leased a parcel of land to lawyer Patrick Spiteri. There, he had sometimes seen the accused whom he believed was working for Dr Spiteri, just as others he often saw were doing.

Mr Fenech said Dr Spiteri had fallen behind in paying rent and he had gone to speak to him when he noticed that some rooms were being built to which he had not given his consent.

Taking the witness stand in the afternoon, Dr Spiteri said he had rented land close to Ta' Qali from Mr Fenech, for which he paid rent six months in advance. However, when he made his payment in March 2002 he had informed Mr Fenech that that was the last time he was paying the rent.

That same year, the accused spoke to him (Dr Spiteri) and asked him if he had some place where he could keep a horse. Dr Spiteri offered to let him keep the animal on the land in question.

He said Mr Pace was unemployed and acted as a sort of "reliable errand boy" for him. Mr Pace decided to build some rooms where he kept rabbits and chickens and also sowed some seeds.

Dr Spiteri testified that some time in 2002, he told Mr Pace he should vacate the land in September because the rent would expire at that time.

Dr Spiteri said he tried to negotiate with Mr Fenech that Mr Pace could keep using part of the land, but they could not come to an agreement on the amount to be paid.

Dr Spiteri said he knew the rooms Mr Pace had built were neatly finished and he was even trying to get a building permit for them.

It was agreed that a fee of Lm500 be paid to Mr Pace for the rooms he had built, and Dr Spiteri was prepared to pay the money himself because he did not want any arguments. But Mr Fenech did not want any money from Dr Spiteri.

Dr Spiteri said he had offered the accused two tumoli of untilled land he had at Burmarrad where he could keep chickens and rabbits.

He said that on the eve of the incident, Mr Pace told Dr Spiteri that he did not want him to pay the Lm500 to Mr Fenech because he would sort the matter out himself. Though he was not told how this would be done, Dr Spiteri said he did not get the impression there would be any arguments. On the following day, however, he learnt there had been a confrontatoin between the accused and Mr Fenech.

PC Josianne Buttigieg said the accused did not have any licences to keep or carry guns. The trial continues.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony Barbara prosecuted. Dr Joseph Giglio and Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused. Dr Franco Debono appeared in parte civile.