A man in a fit of rage with a gun in his hand made Stephen Smith genuinely fear for his life so he decided to leave the scene after hitting a car on November 19.

Mr Smith was shot at by PC Paul Sheehan after he hit the Home Affairs' Minister's car on November 19.

He told the court this morning that as he was driving, he clipped the mirror and hit the side of a parked car.

Mr Smith was testifying in the case against PC Sheehan, who is pleading not guilty to attempted murder, using violence against Mr Smith, causing voluntary damage to a vehicle, discharging a firearm in a public place and exceeding the limits of his authority as a police officer.

Mr Smith told the court he stopped to exchange details to repair the car.

"At that point I just heard shouting and a lot of aggression... As I was getting out of the car... there was a man in a fit of rage holding a gun in the right hand," he said adding "it was at this point that I genuinely feared for my life and decided to leave the scene... I was convinced he was going to shoot at me."

Mr Smith said that at the time he was under shock and, while words were exchanged, he did not recall them.

As he drove off he turned right. Just before he started turning, he heard the first shot and, as he turned, there was the second one.

"I realised it was a shot. It was a quiet street in a residential area and I saw the gun," he said adding he didn't realise the bullets hit his car.

"My intention was to try and get away from him," he said adding that he continued driving towards Regional Road. He realised there was a Mercedes following him. It was the car he had hit.

He turned toward the roundabout and then left towards the Santa Venera tunnels.

"A this point my car just malfunctioned and stopped. All the power went off I have no explanation for it. It's a modern car and this never happened before," he said.

Almost immediately he noticed police on the scene as saw flashing blue lights. "I felt relief to be honest as I was actually fearing for my life... then, to my surprise, the police confronted me and told me to proceed to the rear of the vehicle. I didn't know what was happening... I was asked to lie face down on the ground, which I did, and was handcuffed.... I was shouted at and told 'don't move, don't speak' and was told to keep my head down and not even to tilt my head sideways."

He did not notice the driver but the car he hit was stopped behind his. He recalled the number plate AQZ, depicting a leased car.

From then on he was taken to three police stations that night. A magistrate was present when he took a breathalyser test.

He recognised Mr Sheehan to be the man holding the gun and who was wearing dark trousers and a white shirt on that evening. Mr Smith said he was not holding anything in his own hands when he got out of the car that night.

When Superintendent Alexandra Mamo was testifying earlier, she said Mr Sheehan had told the police when asked why he had shot at the man that Mr Smith was a danger to himself and to others.

She said that when she arrived on the accident site, Mr Smith's car was already on the low loader and she asked what had been done.

Supt Mamo said that after he was cautioned and asked if he wanted a lawyer, Mr Smith asked for Emmanuel Mallia. It was  explained to him that Dr Mallia could not represent him as he was a minister.

He could not understand since he was drunk but eventually asked to be represented by Arthur Azzopardi.

Later, she also said PC Sheehan asked to be represented by Dr Azzopardi.

HE JUST TOOK A STEP AND HE SHOT TWICE: ONE, TWO - WITNESS

A woman who witnessed the incident and filmed it, Lidgia Farrugia Sammut, told the court she deleted the recording on a friend's advice.

Ms Farrugia Sammut, who was born in Nicaragua but lives in Gzira, said that when she told her friend that one of the cars had a GM14 plate, he told her it was a government car and that "this must be something nasty". She said the recording was eventually retrieved by a court expert.

She said that although the shots could be heard in the video, the shooting cannot be seen as she shot the video while holding a dog's leash.

She said that the man in the car on the right was leaning on the top of his car and she could only see him from his chest upwards. Both his hands were visible and he had nothing in his hands.

The other man - who she recognised as Mr Sheehan - was standing in the middle of the street holding a gun in his right hand and a mobile phone in his left.

"He was on the phone, shouting, while swinging the gun on the floor. He was very aggressive," she said adding she did not understand Maltese.

One of the men got into his car and drove off.

"The other gentleman, literally, just took at step and he shot twice: one, two," she said adding that the shots were fired at the car and in rapid succession.

The man in the first car slowed down and she and her mother were worried he might have been shot. But then he accelerated and they were relieved.

Another witness, Claudia Nicastro said that from the window of her third floor apartment she saw two men standing in the road.

"One of them told the other: why do you have a gun, can you remove it? The other man told him: because you tried to assault me," she said.

The men walked and arrived near their cars. The man who spoke earlier made a phone call and she heard him tell someone on the line to come near the pool. He had a gun in his hand.

The other man ran into the car and drove off and out of her sight.

She did not recall that he had anything in his hands. The other man fired two shots, got into the car and drove after him. He aimed straight ahead when he shot, she said.

Mr Sheehan made a request for bail.

His lawyer Edward Gatt, said his client was not granted bail earlier due to the fear of tampering with evidence and the leaking of information. As everyone knew, he said, over the past weeks there had been lots of information leaked to the media and his client had nothing to do with it.

The prosecution did not object to the granting of bail given that the main witnesses had testified and there was no longer the fear of tampering with evidence.

The magistrate will hand down a bail ruling in chambers.

Superintendent Mamo and Inspector Saviour Baldacchino are prosecuting.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio is appearing for Mr Smith while Dr Gatt is representing Mr Sheehan.

The case will continue on Friday.