A mother and her daughter filmed the argument that led to a minister’s security driver allegedly shooting at a Scotsman and they were approached shortly after the incident by someone who asked to see the footage.

Sources said the footage is not very clear but shots can be heard.

Based on the women’s testimony, inquiring Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras ordered that a man be questioned on suspicion that he may have been trying to retrieve the footage and tamper with evidence.

The witnesses, however, were not able to make a positive identification of this person from a line-up of men and picked out two individuals.

The women, who were located thanks to a tip-off, were interviewed as part of the magisterial inquiry on Wednesday. This is a week since the incident in which Home Affairs Ministry driver Paul Sheehan, 40, allegedly fired two shots at 30-year-old Stephen Morrison Smith’s Vauxhall Insignia, which had hit the ministerial car.

Paul Sheehan arriving in court on Wednesday. Photo: Jason Borg

Witnesses refused to hand over footage

The witnesses said shortly after the incident, they were approached by a man who asked to see the footage. They refused and the man walked away. However, the magistrate insisted on probing the matter further.

Neighbours yesterday were circumspect when asked by Times of Malta about these women but one person who lives nearby confirmed she had seen them and believed they had filmed the shooting on a mobile.

Paul Sheehan has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder

Mr Sheehan, a police constable who had been seconded to act as a security driver for Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, allegedly fired the shots on the corner of Wied il-Kappara Street, a residential road at the back of the National Pool at Tal-Qroqq.

On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and was remanded in custody but was hospitalised after suffering from chest pains during the arraignment.

The incident has caused a political firestorm amid demands for Dr Mallia to step down, particularly after an initial statement issued by the government appeared to play down the incident and wrongly claimed Mr Sheehan’s shots were fired in the air as a warning.

The issue was compounded by the fact that police on the night broke with procedure and loaded Mr Smith’s vehicle – which had been stopped in the Tal-Qroqq tunnels – on to a low loader and moved it some 100 metres up the road. This has led to accusations that the crime scene was interfered with before the inquiring magistrate and forensic experts had even arrived at the scene.

The incident of the unnamed man inquiring about the footage will be relevant to a second inquiry being carried out by a panel of three retired judges, into whether there had been an attempt to cover up the incident.