A man accused of stabbing a Libyan man in the stomach after snorting cocaine admitted to the attack but claimed he had been provoked, a police inspector testified yesterday.

Noel Farrugia, 31, of Msida, stands charged with trying to kill Faiz Omar el Sallak on July 22 at around 9 p.m. at a flat in Marsa.

Police Inspector Daniel Zammit yesterday testified that after Mr Sallak had entered the emergency department, dropped off by an unknown person, the police spoke to him before he went into surgery for his life threatening injuries.

He told officers that he had been in a fight with Mr Farrugia over drugs and a woman.

Inspector Zammit went straight to the flat in Marsa where the alleged crime took place and found it had been cleaned, except for a few drops of blood on the floor and near the common entrance door.

Once forensics police arrived, more blood stains were revealed with special chemicals used to detect blood, he said.

When he spoke to Mr Farrugia, he was told that the two of them were in the flat together with Mr Farrugia’s girlfriend, Miriam Azzopardi, and another man Paul Zammit.

They were sharing cocaine when the victim asked if he could have some for free. When Mr Farrugia declined, the victim began annoying his girlfriend and Mr Farrugia jumped in to stop him.

A fight ensued and in the commotion, Mr Farrugia thought that the victim was about to attack him with a weapon, when he saw his chance and stabbed him in the stomach, the court was told.

The case continues.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.