Victim recalls being hit, then collapsing

A Sliema wine bar owner recounted in court yesterday how he collapsed after being stabbed in the back several times by his girlfriend's former boyfriend.

Maltatoday journalist and owner of Ciao Fra, David Darmanin, said he was in his bar on October 13 when James Aquilina rushed in and hit him in the back. He turned around and tried to push Mr Aquilina out of the bar and into the common part of the complex where the outlet is situated in Sliema. Once out of the wine bar, Mr Aquilina swore at him and left. At that point, Mr Darmanin looked at his shirt, saw blood and collapsed.

That was all he could remember of the night, after which he spent two weeks in hospital where he had to undergo major surgery and time in intensive care because of the severity of his injuries, which he is still recovering from.

Taking the witness stand, Davina Preca, Mr Darmanin's girlfriend who used to see Mr Aquilina in the past, said that on the day of the incident she had spoken to Mr Aquilina for five to 10 minutes outside the wine bar before he returned to attack Mr Darmanin.

He had been agitated and told her he could not believe she was going out with somebody else. He also told her he would not bother with her anymore.

Testifying, Mark Richard, a friend of Mr Darmanin who lives in the same complex where the wine bar is situated, said that when he arrived home he stopped to speak to Mr Darmanin who was sitting on a bar stool, slouched and with his back to the door of the bar. All of a sudden, a man ran in and started hitting Mr Darmanin on his back.

Mr Richard did not know what was going on and Mr Darmanin got up and the two started fighting until Mr Darmanin managed to push his assailant out into the common part of the complex. Mr Darmanin gave chase and when he returned he was covered in what looked like red wine. He then collapsed.

Mr Richard said he had never seen the aggressor in his life. In fact, he could not identify Mr Aquilina in court.

A friend of Mr Aquilina, Chris Sant Fournier, said that on that evening, both of them had gone to the witness's house, watched TV and talked about the situation between Mr Aquilina and his former girlfriend.

Mr Aquilina could not believe that Ms Preca had found a boyfriend so quickly.

They shared a bottle of wine and then decided to go to McDonalds at the Airport for a coffee but on the way there Mr Aquilina asked the witness to take him to the wine bar to speak to Ms Preca. About 10 minutes later, he returned, got into the car and said he felt so much better because he got something off his chest; he had wanted to say something to Ms Preca.

The two then carried on to the airport but when they arrived Mr Aquilina received a phone call from someone he assumed was Ms Preca and the two spoke for 10 minutes. Mr Sant Fournier said he then dropped Mr Aquilina at home and at about 2 a.m. received a call while he was in bed and was told that Mr Aquilina had stabbed Mr Darmanin.

Following the testimony of the main witnesses, Magistrate Miriam Hayman granted the accused bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €23,000.

Police Inspector Chris Pullicino prosecuted.

Lawyers Joseph Giglio and Gianella Caruana Curran appeared for Mr Aquilina.

Lawyers Vince Micallef and Andy Ellul appeared parte civile.