A witness in the trial of the man charged with the Zejtun bomb murder in 2005 recalled today how his mother’s skin came off as soon as he touched her when he went to put the fire out of her hair after the explosion.

Testifying in the case against Ronnie Azzopardi, who is pleading not guilty to murdering passer-by Angela Bondin on June 18, 2005, Anthony Grima said he had also seen a woman running away from the scene.

He first thought the woman was a witness but it was actually the victim.

His mother, Tessie Grima testified she had been with her husband looking down from the room when they saw a man holding a grey bag get out of a blue car which had just arrived.

The man placed the bag under the letter box on the opposite side of the road, returned to the car and drove off.

She said she later went down, picked up the bag and looked inside it. There was what looked like a battery. The victim had gone to help her, she said.

Ms Grima said the bag exploded as soon as they began talking.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she said that her hair was burnt and they had had to cut her clothes off. It still hurt when she showered.

The woman said that  she had to go to her son’s wedding dressed like a nun because of her injuries.

The case continues.