Young woman 'left to die' after taking heroin

A young woman was only seconds away from dying when a farmer spotted her in a car park where she had been dumped after overdosing on heroin, jurors heard yesterday.

"Egoism had won over altruism that day. She was left to die, and was found at the point of death," prosecutor Anthony Barbara said at the start of the trial of Brooks Lia, 35, who is being charged with the woman's attempted homicide.

Dr Barbara, head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's office, was giving jurors an overview of the evidence to come during the trial. Mr Lia, of San Ġwann, is pleading not guilty to attempted homicide on November 2, 2001. The woman cannot be named by court order.

Dr Barbara told jurors that he would show how the woman had overdosed at Mr Lia's house after which he took her to the car park of Ir-Razzett l-Abjad in San Ġwann, limits of Birkirkara, where he propped her up against a tree and left her for dead.

The young woman was found with her trousers lowered, her top pulled up and her mouth infested with flies.

Police Inspector Josric Mifsud explained how a first anonymous phone call had been received at St Luke's Hospital about a person who had overdosed at the car park but the ambulance crew found no one there.

However, a second call to the emergency department by a farmer who owned the car park, led the ambulance crew to the woman some five hours after the initial call was made.

On taking the witness stand, the farmer, Alfred Camilleri, said that when he glanced at the unconscious woman, he at first thought he was seeing two garbage bags because of the colour of her clothes and the amount of flies that had gathered.

On closer inspection, he found out it was a person. "I thought the person was dead and called the ambulance straight away," he said.

Taking the witness stand, doctor Michael Spiteri, who went on site to assist the woman when the ambulance spotted her, said she was seconds away from dying. He said that on arrival at the hospital the woman started vomiting a greenish liquid which also contained flies.

Mr Lia's sister, Gina D'Amato, said that on the day in question her brother had come home with a girl where they started to inject heroin. The next thing she remembered was the girl leaving and collapsing on the parapet of their house.

The victim testified that she had gone near the former hospital with Mr Lia to buy heroin and then had gone back to his house to take it. After injecting it, she could not remember what happened, she said.

In a statement to the police, Mr Lia admitted to dumping her at the car park because he panicked. He had only been taking heroin for a few months and, when she started to lose consciousness, he had a panic attack.

"I heard her laboured breathing and then she went cold. I left her there and went to call an ambulance from a telephone box further down the road," he told the police.

"I told her not to take so much heroin. I was scared. That's why I did not admit to dropping her off straight away."

When asked whether he thought she was going to die he replied: "That is why I called for an ambulance, after all it is smack (heroin) not candy."

The trial, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, continues this morning.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto and Anġlu Farrugia are representing Mr Lia.