A court expert testified that the accused in a double murder case was not the first to fire.

The accused, Giuseppe Cutajar, 45, of Marsascala, was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 and a deposit of €1,000.

Former army chief and ballistics expert, Brigadier Maurice Calleja said that the evidence indicated that the first shot had been fired by one of the two victims, Kevin Gatt or Stephen Zammit, both 32 years old. The shooting took place on March 15 in an underground complex of garages in the block where the accused resided.

Lawyer Emmanuel Mallia questioned Brig. Calleja about the dynamics of the incident.

The witness said that one could see that the first shot was fired at Mr Cutajar as he was in his car.

At one point, the gun used by the victims jammed and failed, which is when the accused returned fire, hitting both of them and killing one of them on the spot.

At the start of the case, Police Inspector James Grech had said that Mr Cutajar told investigators that he had heard one of his aggressors shout: “Shoot him, shoot him”. He ducked and slithered out of the passenger door side when the shot went off.

He made a dash for the ramp that led to the street and the Hyundai containing the victims reversed towards him. He decided to confront them and ran towards the car. He put his left arm into the window and tried to grab the gun.

Mr Cutajar had told the police that he managed to wrestle one of the men but he fell because the car reversed, dragging him along. He then “remembered” that he had a gun hidden in the ventilation system and managed to get up and get it, after which he fired a shot at the car and hid in another garage.

He said his aggressors fired another shot at him and the Hyundai reversed at speed in his direction. He heard the car hit a wall and he fired more shots but could not say how many. He then made a mad dash for his flat upstairs, Mr Cutajar said in his statement to the police.

The case continues.