A bar owner might have been killed by a frenzied Egyptian man wielding a pen knife had it not been for action taken by a customer, a court heard yesterday.

Knifed once in the stomach, Anthony Fenech, 56, was about to be stabbed in the back when taxi driver Charles Tonna grabbed his assailant by the arm and pushed him away, witnesses said.

Ali Ibrahem Eldessouki, 38, is pleading not guilty to attempted murder over the incident that took place on July 10 inside Diana kiosk at the Valletta bus terminus.

Mr Fenech, the owner, testified that Mr Eldessouki turned up at his bar and asked for cigarettes.

He told the Egyptian he had none and Mr Eldessouki then demanded €20. Without giving him a chance to say anything, Mr Eldessouki pulled a pen knife out of his pocket and began waving it at him, Mr Fenech said.

The man stabbed him in the stomach and then grabbed a chair and started to smash up the bar.

He used his head to break a food display unit, the court heard.

Mr Fenech said he felt the knife near his back but someone, who turned out be a customer, pulled the aggressor away.

He said he would surely have been killed had it not been for this intervention.

Shortly afterwards, Transport Malta officials arrived from the bus terminus to help.

In hospital, a doctor said he would have died if the knife penetrated his spleen, Mr Fenech said.

Customers Christian Grixti and Mr Tonna were having their morning cup of tea when the accused walked in. They corroborated Mr Fenech’s version of events, adding that the accused waved the knife at everyone before starting to smash the place up.

Mr Tonna said that within seconds of the accused having knifed Mr Fenech, he tried to stab him in the back again. But he grabbed his arm and pushed him away.

Mr Eldessouki then ran off into the street, Mr Tonna said.

“Had I not grabbed him, the story would have been very different,” he added.

The case continues.