Magistrates' Court hears how 'misunderstanding' led to a fracas

A British man of Nigerian origin yesterday told a magistrate he could not understand why he had been jailed for a month for injuring a bouncer who is charged with injuring him.

Lucky Olori explained that the fight that broke out outside Fuego bar last month had been the cause of a "misunderstanding" between him and a bouncer.

"We later shook hands and apologised to one another and said we had no interest in going to court... I can't understand why I've been jailed for a month," he said.

Mr Olori was testifying before Magistrate Lawrence Quintano in the compilation of evidence against four bouncers: Roderick Attard, 22, of Kalkara; Anthony Azzopardi, 27, of Hamrun; David Bonello, 48, of Gharghur and Charlton Abela, 25, of Cospicua.

They are pleading not guilty to slightly injuring Mr Olori, the attempted murder of his friend Felix Idisi Oduh and seriously injuring him with a bottle at Fuego bar on June 24 at about 1.30 a.m.

Mr Olori explained that he had come to Malta on holiday but was in prison because he was jailed for a month when he admitted to slightly injuring Mr Attard during the incident. He was awaiting appeal and, after being cautioned, he explained he had pleaded guilty on his lawyers' advice and had acted in self defence.

Mr Olori said that one evening he wanted to go to Fuego with his friends to have a good time but was not let in because he was told there was a students' party. He asked to speak to the manager and presented him with his British University student card. But he was still not allowed in.

Then, he explained, Mr Attard pushed him down the stairs and onto the road.

"He was on top of me and I tried to get up. That was that... A fracas broke out but I don't remember what else happened... I couldn't see them; there were a lot of people. Tables and chairs were flying," he said.

Mr Olori added that when he eventually managed to stand up he head butted Mr Attard in self defence.

Soon after the incident, he and Mr Attard apologised to one other and had a drink together. They realised there had been a misunderstanding about why he and his friends were not allowed into the establishment.

Later the manager explained to him that his skin colour had nothing to do with what had happened and told him that "coloured people" were employed there.

He added that during the fracas his friend Mr Oduh had been injured but he did not see what happened.

In his testimony, Mr Oduh said he was with Mr Olori, their girlfriends and another male friend when they tried to go into Fuego but were stopped by the bouncers.

He said Mr Olori asked to speak to the manager and, when he arrived, Mr Olori told the manager he had all the necessary documentation and asked why they were not being allowed inside.

Mr Oduh said he then told Mr Olori to leave the area and that was when Mr Azzopardi pushed his friend down the stairs and onto the road. He said he also saw Mr Attard push him later.

Then, Mr Oduh said, all the four bouncers started beating his friend. As Mr Oduh was moving towards them to try to stop the fight Mr Azzopardi hit him in the neck with a bottle. He moved away from the area and, as he saw one of the bouncers take hold of a chair from a nearby establishment, he grabbed a chair and used it to defend himself.

Eventually Mr Olori's girlfriend went to call the police. The ambulance arrived and he was taken to hospital where he was operated in the neck.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio, for the bouncers, exhibited a DVD containing a CCTV recording of what happened that night. Dr Giglio explained that the incident was filmed by a camera situated above the bar.

Police Inspector Carlo Ellul drew the attention of the court to the fact that police had, on various occasions, asked the Fuego manager to provide them with footage of the area but they never did.

At the end of the sitting the bouncers were each granted bail against a Lm2,000 deposit and a personal guarantee to the same amount.