Argument over dust led to attempted murder, court hears

A court heard yesterday how an argument over dirt in the road led to a man being stabbed and another breaking his big toe.

The trial by jury started yesterday of Anthony Zahra, Louise Zahra and George Gatt who are accused of the attempted murder of Stephen Sultana when they allegedly attacked him during an argument.

The head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's Office, Anthony Barbara, told the jurors that "in this case we don't have a lot of evidence to appreciate all the fine details and witnesses. This (trial by jury) won't be long but the truth will emerge by itself.

"It looks as though there were tensions building up before this incident but there is no excuse to use a knife or a gun.

"This case is so difficult yet so clear: they wanted to kill him and their actions indicate their intentions."

Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Marisa Camilleri said that on September 3, 2001 she got a call about an argument in Kalkara where some people were hospitalised.

Mrs Zahra told her that they had just returned from a day at the beach and her husband went up to the roof to take down a Maltese flag, when he noticed a piece of metal, sticking out of Mr Sultana's washroom, which had torn the flag.

When he looked over the roof he noticed Mr Sultana sweeping rubbish and dirt under his (Mr Zahra's) car. On asking him why he was throwing the rubbish under his car, Mr Sultana allegedly told him to keep out of it and invited him to fight.

On comparing the two statements given by Mr and Mrs Zahra, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono asked Inspector Camilleri if she had copied the statements because they were exactly the same, word for word, saying that it was an unusual coincidence and adding that these things should not happen.

Asked why she had taken a year to bring the case to court, the inspector said the case was passed on to another inspector and then back again, adding that it also took a long time to locate Mr Gatt.

Mr Justice Galea Debono asked Inspector Camilleri "Why couldn't you find Mr Gatt, because you were busy or careless?"

Testifying, Arthur Felice, a surgeon at the hospital, said that on examining Mr Sultana he found three stab wounds seven millimetres in length, two of which were superficial and the other having penetrated the abdominal wall.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Sultana said this wasn't the first time he was in court with his neighbours.

On the day in question he went down to his garage. There were some leaves in front of his house and he picked them up.

"I heard Anthony Zahra shouting from his roof top about the rubbish. I told him not to talk to me because part of a court order concerning me and the Zahras was not to speak to each other.

"A few minutes later all three of them opened my garage door. Mrs Zahra was holding a broom and a knife and, when I saw this, I grabbed a harpoon to protect myself. When they saw this, they left".

He then tried to leave to go for his son when he saw the three accused approaching the garage again.

"Mr Zahra had an automatic gun and he pointed it at me and tried to shoot but it didn't go off. I then felt something in my stomach and I turned and saw Mr Gatt holding a knife. Mr Zahra told me he wanted to kill me."

Defence lawyer Roberto Montalto asked Mr Sultana how was it that he saw a knife when in his statement to the police he said he only saw a handle. Mr Sultana did not answer.

Lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami asked Mr Sultana how Mr Gatt ended up on the ground and he replied: "I could have pushed him, but no, I did not. I actually saw him running away."

Dr Montalto continued: "You said twice in the Magistrate's Court that the gun allegedly produced by Mr Zahra was a revolver but today you say it was an automatic. If you were certain it was a revolver, how could you now say it was an automatic (weapon)?"

Dr Montalto suggested to Mr Sultana that he was mixing up events and contradicting himself, pointing out differences between what was said in the compilation of evidence and what Mr Sultana was saying now.

Taking the witness stand Mr Gatt said he was Mrs Zahra's uncle and he used to baby sit three times a week for her.

On that day he was in their street when a man he had never met before pushed him to the ground and started beating him up. Mr Gatt said that he broke his big toe during the incident.

Testifying, Mrs Zahra said her husband had told Mr Sultana not to throw any rubbish under his car and Mr Sultana swore at him and told him he just didn't care.

Mr Sultana challenged her husband to a fight and we left it at that, she said.

"I suddenly heard a lot of noise downstairs and looked out and saw Mr Sultana attacking Mr Gatt." She added that when she went downstairs to help her uncle, Mr Sultana punched her in the face.

"My husband told him 'you don't hit my wife' and he lunged forward towards him. When I saw this, I grabbed a broom and hit him (Mr Sultana) on the head."

The case continues.