CONSTANTLY UPDATED - A silent court this morning heard a police inspector explain what teacher Erin Tanti told the police as he was recovering from injuries after he was found at the bottom of a cliff with his student Lisa Maria Zahra, 15, who died on the spot.

Mr Tanti sat in the dock next to his parents and a nurse dressed in blue.

Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Keith Arnaud, said that on March 18 a report was made to the police by Nicholas Zahra (Lisa Maria's brother) and Mark Ciangura (the handyman) that someone had gone into their home and went to sleep in the girl's bedroom. Erin Tanti's Mazda car was parked in front of their house. He was also seen going into the villa the previous day.

Then Lisa Maria Zahra was reported missing.

The police found a note addressed to her family explaining why she had left. The police went to Mr Tanti's house in Valletta. He was not found but a note was also found addressed to his mother. No cash was found but there was an open cash box. James Muscat, a business partner told the police the cash box had contained €3,000 cash.

Some time after, the  police received information that Erin Tanti had been heard by picnickers calling for help at Dingli cliffs.

Mr Tanti was seen crawling over a small area and they realised he needed help but could not get to him because it was dangerous.

He told them they had jumped off the cliff and his girlfriend was dead, stuck in a tree. Later, he gave the same version to the police. 

He said he had a relationship with Lisa Maria and they had been seeing each other for three months. He knew her from school and no one knew about the relationship except her grandmother.

On March 18, he received a phone call from Lisa Maria who said the family knew about the relationship. They both panicked because her father was a "powerful person" in Malta.

According to Mr Tanti, she told him she wanted to kill herself and she asked him to pick her up. He decided to get aspirin from a pharmacy and whisky left over from his birthday party.

They went to Dingli and began taking pills. He asked her if she was ready and she said yes. She said if he was not ready, they would not do it. He said "OK, may as well do it here".

When they got to the edge he said he did not think it was right but the girl told him not to be a coward.

At around 5am they counted to three. She turned and looked him in the eyes and he saw her hitting the bottom. He felt he had let her down and decided to jump too.

As he opened his eyes he found himself at the bottom. He wanted to kill himself and tried to walk but lost consciousness.

He said he had addressed a suicide note to his mother and was afraid he would end up in prison being named as a paedophile.

Mr Tanti told the police that Lisa Maria's father, brother, and step mother used to treat her badly. She had tried to commit suicide before too.

The inspector said Lisa Maria died of a severe head injury caused by the fall. 

Inside Mr Tanti's car the police found a half empty whisky bottle, three boxes of aspirin, an envelope addressed to Erin, €3,000 in cash, three cheques and a letter to his mother where he explained to her why he was there because he feared the consequences of dating a minor.

Erin told the constable at the rescue scene, "I screwed it up, I jumped I'm still alive and my friend is dead."

The inspector said Lisa Maria’s former psychologist told the police he had 18 sessions with the girl, until the middle of last year.

He said a friend of Mr Tanti, James Muscat, admitted he knew of the relationship between Tanti and Lisa Maria . He described Mr Tanti as a sociopath.

SMS COMMUNICATIONS

He said the police had investigated communications between Mr Tanti and Ms Zahra up to March 18, when they met.

There were a number of pictures of both together and others of the girl, naked. The inspector said the pictures indicated Ms Zahra was uncomfortable about the pictures.

Mr Tanti listed Lisa Maria's phone number as 'Douchebag', which was her Skype name.

In one SMS, Mr Tanti told Lisa Maria that if her family learnt about them the police would arrest him and he would stab himself.

Lisa Maria told him to calm down. The inspector said this showed how Mr Tanti wanted to commit suicide while Ms Zahra was trying to calm him down.

In another message he told Ms Zahra that they should run away.

When questioned, Mr Tanti told the police that Ms Zahra had insisted for some five hours that she wanted to kill herself.

The police presented copies of various SMS messages. One of them by Lisa Maria Zahra said: "I want to run away. You just need to write a letter. I want to feel you one last time."

Another said: "Erin, we’re doing it tonight, no matter what".

Replying to a question, Inspector Arnaud said Mr Tanti had told the police that he had preferred a slow death.

The inspector said that both Erin and Lisa Maria did self-harm. The police found scratches on her wrist during the autopsy.

He said the SMS messages between the two showed the opposite of what Mr Tanti was claiming. 

INSPECTOR: SMS MESSAGES CONTRAST WITH TANTI'S VERSION TO POLICE

It was clear from the SMS that it was Mr Tanti who had instigated the March 19 events. He was the one who encouraged her to leave the house and for him to pick her up. This went on for some five hours.

He had also, in one SMS exchange told her that he had 'bought everything they needed' with reference to the aspirin. In her reply she asked him: What did you buy?, an indication that she did not know what was going on.

The inspector said he had questioned Mr Tanti on the extent of his injuries - three fractured ribs and slight injuries on one of his knees and asked how that was consistent with such a fall. Mr Tanti refused to answer.

At the end of today's sitting the court was told that a psychologist's report about Mr Tanti has not yet been completed.

The compilation of evidence continues on Thursday.