A three-phase scan of Vince Farrugia’s ribs after he was assaulted a year ago showed a remodelled bone due to a previous injury but no fractures, court appointed expert Mario Scerri told the Court this morning.

Mr Farrugia, the director general of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU, allegedly suffered broken ribs in an assault that took place in his office in March last year.

A consultant radiologist, Anthony Samuel, had said he had found that Mr Farrugia’s eighth to 11th ribs on the right side separated and dislocated from the point where they joined the sternum.

That, he said, indicated blunt force trauma from which it would usually take between six weeks and eight months to recover, and in some cases even up to a year.

Taking the witness stand in the case against Sandro Chetcuti, a former council member of the GRTU who stands charged with attempting to kill Mr Farrugia, causing him serious injury and threatening and harassing him on March 11, last year, Dr Scerri said he did not agree with Dr Samuel’s medical report and insisted that Mr Farrugia had not suffered fractures and had only been slightly injured.

He said this could be confirmed by the Emergency Department’s report drawn up by Dr Konrad Borg, which had also noted there were no fractures. There was evidence of what looked like a remodelled bone due to a previous injury.

He noted that a three-phase scan of the bone had been taken and no fractures resulted. These scans had been enlarged and were very clear, he said.

The court accepted a request by the accused to remove the curfew it had placed on him.

The case continues.