A maths teacher who used to give one-to-one private lessons to teenager Lisa Marie Zahra told the court today she was a "loveable and bubbly" person who was constantly planning her future. 

Marlene Bugeja's testimony, however, did not go down well with the defence lawyers especially when she attempted to draw a comparison with the drama teacher accused of her murder but was quickly stopped by presiding Magistrate Audrey Demicoli. 

She was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Erin Tanti, 23, who is pleading not guilty to murdering his 15-year-old student, Lisa Marie Zahra, and assisting her to commit suicide by jumping off the cliffs on March 19 last year.

He is also charged with defiling her, participating in sexual acts with her and being in possession of indecent images of her.

Ms Bugeja, a maths teacher at De La Salle College was Ms Zahra's private lessons teacher since 2012. She explained how Ms Zahra hated the subject because she did not know her potential but she grew to love it and wanted to do well in the ordinary level exam. 

"She passed the tests I gave her and her average mark was always in the 80s. Even in the hardest paper, she always got over 75," she said. She added: "Had she sat for the O level, she would have got a one."

Ms Bugeja said that during the short breaks, Ms Zahra spoke to her about stories related to her travels, including to London and Africa. She said Ms Zahra was also planning her prom and what she would wear on the night. She had shown her photographs of the dress she wanted and told her how she wanted to wear a pair of Dr Martens under the dress. "I was hoping she would choose pumps to be a bit more classy but she opted for those," she said. 

"She was a bubbly and very intelligent person. She was also very sensitive and when she chose her ferret as a pet, she chose one that was blind from one eye," she said. 

Ms Bugeja said that on Sunday before the tragedy, she had asked her whether she was married and whether she would invite her to her wedding. 

"It was a very special lesson. She also asked me when my birthday was so she could get me cupcakes. She was always planning the future," she said.

On the day of the tragedy on March 19, Ms Zahra failed to turn up for a test and the lesson and later that evening she received a called from a student who told her that Ms Zahra had been found dead and that she had committed suicide. 

"I was devastated. I am not a relative but still you could not help but love Lisa. She was so bubbly and lively.... When I heard that she had committed suicide, it just did not make sense because she had been planning her future.

"I cannot understand why I had these emotions and Mr Cliff Dingli felt nothing," she said before she was stopped by the magistrate following vociferous objections from defence counsel Michael Sciriha. 

Replying to questions under cross examination, Ms Bugeja said Ms Zahra had never spoken to her about any difficulties she was facing except those in maths. 

Dr Sciriha took exception to her short, abrupt replies, to the extent that he said she was being "arrogant". 

Mr Tanti's friend and business partner, James Muscat, also took the witness stand to explain how he and Mr Tanti had a company and organised stand-up comedy nights. 

Mr Muscat explained how Mr Tanti had told him he was "seeing" a girl in November 2013 but never mentioned her by name. He also never said she was his student but said she was "17 going on 18". 

In January last year, Mr Muscat said Mr Tanti invited him and his partner for dinner at his place in Valletta and that was the first time he met Ms Zahra. 

He said he remembered Mr Tanti telling him that his girlfriend's father was "a powerful man" and how he had given him the impression that he was scared of him. 

On March 17, they had a comedy night at Hard Rock Cafe and Mr Tanti left just after he finished his part in the show. He said he had asked him for a lift back home but Mr tanti had said he could not give him one. 

The following day, Mr Tanti called him to thank him for his part in organising the show and also thanked him for his friendship. On March 19 he received a call from Mr Tanti's mother who told him that her son was missing. 

Asked about his closeness to Mr Tanti, Mr Muscat said Mr Tanti had told him he was a "sociopath" but he did not believe him. Mr Muscat also spoke about his problems with Mr Tanti, primarily because he was a perfectionist. "He was a nice guy," he added. 

Mr Muscat said that one day he was at his house and realised that Mr Tanti had what looked like self-inflicted wounds on his forearm. He explained how he had told Mr Tanti he did not want him doing anything stupid like that anymore or their friendship was over. 

Under cross examination, Mr Muscat said Mr Tanti and Ms Zahra looked happy together. 

"He always smiled whenever he mentioned her and he told me he loved her and was crazy over her. He was very happy with him and even she was happy too," he said. 

The court sitting degenerated when lawyer Giannella de Marco, appearing for the Zahra family, asked Mr Muscat whether Mr Tanti had ever told him that Ms Zahra was his 14-year-old student, prompting Dr Sciriha to complain that court procedures had been thrown out of the window. 

"I never had a case like this with these things happening in the 30 years in the legal profession," he said, prompting Magistrate Demicoli to ask the lawyer to retract his comment if he was referring to the court. He explained that the court's direction seemed not to be enough to control certain questions and snide remarks being made by the parte civile lawyers. 

The case was put off to the end of February. 

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