Stabbing victim gives evidence

James Aquilina, the man charged with the stabbing of David Darmanin in his wine bar in Sliema on October 13, was this morning granted bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €23,000.

Mr Darmanin, who gave evidence in court this morning, said that he remembered being hit in the back while at his wine bar Ciao Fra. He also remembered trying to push the aggressor out as soon as he was hit. Once in the common area, he said the aggressor swore at him and left.

Mr Darmanin said he then looked down and saw blood on his shirt and that was when he collapsed. That was all he could remember.

Mr Darmanin has since had major surgery and had spent about two weeks in hospital.

Davina Preca, Mr Darmanin’s girlfriend and Mr Aquilina’s former girl, said that on the day of the incident she had spoken to Mr Aquilina for five to 10 minutes outside the wine bar.

He had been agitated and told her that he could not believe that she was going out with somebody else, but once he had confirmed that that was the case, he was not going to bother her anymore.

Mark Richard, a friend who lives above the wine bar, said that when he was about to enter his home, he saw Mr Darmanin sitting on a stool at the bar and he joined him in conversation.

All of a sudden a man ran in and hit Mr Darmanin in the back. Mr Darmanin got up and started to fight with his aggressor, pushing him outside into the common area of the flats where the bar was located. When the aggressor escaped, Mr Darmanin returned with what looked like red wine on his chest. He then collapsed.

Mr Richard said he did know what was going on and he had never seen the aggressor in his life.

Chris Sant Fournier said that that evening, he and Mr Aquilina had gone to his house, watched television and talked about the situation between Mr Aquilina and Ms Preca.

Apparently, Mr Aquilina could not believe how Ms Preca had found a boyfriend so quickly.

They decided to go for a coffee at MacDonalds near the airport.

At MacDonalds, Mr Aquilina was on the phone talking to a person whom he assumed to be Ms Preca for some 10 minutes. They then returned to Sliema. Later on that evening at around 2 a.m., he got a call from a friend who told him that Mr Aquilina had stabbed Mr Darmanin.

In submissions on bail, the prosecution said that Mr Aquilina had lost his mind and the witnesses were afraid of him. He worked at the Plaza in Sliema as a broker, very close to the wine bar where the incident happened.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio said all witnesses had now been heard and the accused would obey any court orders.