A man has been cleared of attempted murder after jurors decided he acted in self-defence when stabbing a Libyan national at an apartment in Marsa in July 2010.

By six votes against three, Noel Farrugia, 35, from Marsa was found not guilty of the attempted murder of 44-year-old Libyan Faiz Omar el Sallak. The Marsa man was also cleared of being in possession of an illegal weapon.

The jury trial started on Wednesday, and jurors retired for deliberation yesterday morning following summing up by Mr Justice Michael Mallia.

It was incredulous how a man with a gaping hole in his stomach had found the energy to do such thing

The Libyan had told the court they were sharing cocaine when all of a sudden he felt a sharp stinging sensation and started to lose a lot of blood. Mr Farrugia, Mr el Sallak claimed, pushed him down the stairs and said: “Allah hu akbar” (God is great).

He recounted that, holding his abdomen to keep his intestines from spilling out, he went to his car, grabbed an axe and smashed Mr Farrugia’s motorcycle.

This version of events was, however, described as “a lie” by a defence lawyer, who argued that it was incredulous how a man with a gaping hole in his stomach had found the energy to do such thing.

Mr Farrugia said that at the time he had a cocaine and heroin drug addiction. On the night of the incident, Mr el Sallak was at his apartment and expected to obtain drugs without paying, the accused said.

Kevin Valletta and Vincienne Vella from the Attorney General’s prosecuted while Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo appeared for Mr Farrugia.