Updated: - Nightclub bouncer Duncan Deguara, 29, went on trial today, accused of seriously injuring a Sudanese immigrant, who later died. He was also accused of working as a bouncer without a llicence.

Suleiman Ismail Abubaker, who had a legal right to be on the island, succumbed to his injuries 11 days after suffering a fractured skull and lung contusion in Paceville in June 2009. 

Prosecutor Maurizio Cordina in the opening address said it was a blow by Deguara which caused the victim to fall to the ground and hit his head against the pavement, causing a haemorrhage which resulted in his death.

Police Superintendent Martin Sammut  said the accused had told the police that he pushed Mr Abubaker when he refused to get out of the establishment. He had refused entry to Mr Abubaker because of a disturbance the previous week but Mr Abubaker still managed to get in when he (Mr Deguara) was in the men's room. He said that when he came out, he saw Mr Abubaker drinking at the bar. When he asked him to leave, Mr Abubaker turned and hit him with a bottle.

Mr Cordina had told the police that Mr Abubaker fell and hit his head a short time after he left the establishment. He also fell a second time when a tripped on some signage.

Supt Sammut said the victim had no external sign of injury but he never regained consciousness. Examinations showed that he had consumed some alcohol. He also suffer from a condition in his lungs.

The officer said CCTV footage showed a commotation but did not reveal exactly what happened.

Supt Sammut saiud two French students had claimed that the bouncer had punched Mr Abubaker but Mr Deguara had denied that that was the case

Mr Abubaker arrived in Malta in 2005, after fleeing Darfur in 1996. His father and two sisters (his mother died giving birth to a third child) remained in Chad but he moved on in search of a better life. He arrived in Libya in 2002, but felt life there was unbearable.

Once he arrived in Malta and left the detention centre, he stayed at the Marsa Open Centre, but eventually moved to Gozo where he had a job. For a time, he lived in Buġibba, but when the money dried up and he could not afford the rent, he returned to Marsa at the beginning of the year.

Several hundred people took part in a protest against racism a few days after Mr Abubaker died (see picture)