A man shot in the head outside his Pietà home in April did not turn up in court to testify against his alleged aggressor yesterday, sending a medical certificate indicating he had eye problems.
Vincent Muscat is now expected to testify this afternoon at the police headquarters after Magistrate Carol Peralta ruled he would ensure the case was not delayed unnecessarily.
Mr Muscat was hit three times as he sat in his car, parked in Bordin Street, at about 11.30pm on April 8.
Badly injured, he drove to the nearby Msida police station where he asked for help and also indicated who his aggressor was.
Jonathan Pace, 31, from Gudja, owner of Tyson Butcher, was eventually charged with trying to kill 52-year-old Mr Muscat – known as il-Koħħu – firing a gun in an inhabited area, causing damage and not having a licence for the gun. He is pleading not guilty.
Mr Muscat’s lawyer, Kathleen Grima, told Magistrate Peralta her client was unwell and could not be present for the sitting.
Defence lawyers Giannella de Marco and Joseph Giglio, however, pointed out that Mr Muscat had been discharged from hospital on April 24 and had no difficulty going to the police headquarters to give his version of the incident on May 3.
They also noted that Mr Muscat had a pending court case in connection with the botched heist on the HSBC headquarters in Qormi four years ago when three men wearing wigs and fake moustaches entered the bank’s building, assaulted a police officer, removed his pistol and tied him to two bank employees in the control room.
Mr Pace’s defence lawyers noted that, in that case, Mr Muscat had also used a medical certificate to avoid appearing in court. Magistrate Peralta insisted he would not allow a case against a man presumed innocent to be delayed unnecessarily.
He initially appointed a court expert to go to Mr Muscat’s house and hear his evidence but Dr Grima objected, noting that would mean having the accused in the victim’s house.
Therefore, the magistrate ordered that Mr Muscat be heard today at the police headquarters in the presence of the court expert, the accused and lawyers representing both sides.