A Romanian man was protecting his friend when he pushed a Sudanese to the ground in Paceville three years ago, allegedly causing his death, a court heard yesterday.
The friend, Radu Rica, testified that the Sudanese man, Osama Al Shazliay Saleh, had elbowed him in the nose for no reason earlier that evening inside a Paceville club.
Mr Rica left the club soon after with his friend, the accused, Antonel Dobre, and Mr Saleh walked towards them looking angry.
“When we exited the club the dark-skinned person [Mr Saleh] noticed us and came towards us... He was angry... He was not speaking, he was swearing – most probably at me,” Mr Rica recounted.
“What I remember is that, at some point, the security guards came. Antonel pushed him and he fell on the floor... Antonel, seeing that the person was approaching me and directing bad language at me, wanted to protect me.” Mr Dobre is pleading not guilty, in a trial by jury, to seriously injuring Mr Saleh, 26, known to his friends as Sunshine, on March 17, 2012.
The prosecution claims he punched Mr Saleh in the face, causing him to fall, hit his head and suffer a brain haemorrhage that led to his death three days later.
He was angry, he was swearing – most probably at me
In his testimony in front of Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, Mr Rica said he had spent that evening with Mr Dobre, talking and walking around Paceville, before entering a club to have a drink.
“Then I went to the toilet and this is where the incident started. When I was coming out of the bathroom a dark-skinned person hit me in the nose with his elbow... I don’t know the reason... from what I think, it was intentional... Maybe he mistook me for someone else,” he said.
He did not speak to this man, who was pulled away by a bouncer. He went back to Mr Dobre who told him to sit down until his nose stopped bleeding. They then walked out of the club and Mr Saleh walked towards them in an aggressive manner.
Mr Dobre pushed him, using his left arm, Mr Rica said.
He will carry on giving evidence today after spending the night at the law courts under supervision. His testimony could not be concluded yesterday because one of the two interpreters had family commitments.
Jurors yesterday also saw CCTV footage gathered by court expert Martin Bajada.
The footage of Pizza by Luca showed a dark-skinned man wearing a dark jacket with a white t-shirt underneath – Mr Saleh – walk calmly towards a group of people outside the pizza place.
The man is seen talking to someone. He then turns back towards the bottom of the road and seems to notice something.
He walks down the road at a quickened pace.
As he walks away from the camera’s area of focus he is seen at the top end of the screen – where he falls, 20 seconds after walking away from his friends.
Faces are not clearly visible in another video from a camera at Hugo’s Special, but a man wearing a t-shirt and a scarf – whose head does not show in the frame – is seen moving his right arm upwards before Mr Saleh falls backwards.
Two minutes later the man in the scarf and another man walk down the road hurriedly.
Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Nadia Attard, from the Attorney General’s office, are prosecuting.
Lawyer Roberto Montalto is representing Mr Dobre while lawyer Larry Formosa is acting in parte civile.