A stabbing victim took the witness stand yesterday and admitted he had punched his aggressor before he was knifed twice.

In broken English, Somali Mohammed Abdilwahid Nur, 25, said the incident with his countryman Abdulnasir Abdullahi, 23, had started three days earlier in a public garden behind the Marsa police station when they clashed over a drink.

Three days later, according to Mr Abdilwahid, they met again and the argument broke out.

“I punched him. He took out the knife and hit me in my hand. I tried to hold him but he hit me again in the stomach,” he said, adding that he lost consciousness at that point.

Eventually, the victim dragged himself to the police station, where officers called an ambulance.

Police Sergeant Jack Farrugia also testified that Mr Abdullahi, following his arrest on July 29, had admitted he had had an argument with the victim.

He had agreed to show officers where he had discarded the folding knife at Belvedere Garden in Marsa.

No request for bail was filed by defence lawyer Cedric Mifsud.