A Sudanese man who died following an altercation with a Paceville bouncer was yesterday portrayed to jurors as a violent, drunken man who had caused trouble in the nightlife hotspot a number of times before.

Both the man accused of causing his death and a nightclub owner spoke of how Suleiman Ismail Abubaker, 28, from Darfur, had been violent in Paceville in the months leading up to the incident, after which he died some days later.

Witnesses said Duncan Deguara, 32, from Paola, who was working as a bouncer, punched and pushed Mr Abubaker out of the main door of Footloose nightclub on May 29, 2009. The victim fell and hit his head to the ground.

A forensic physician yesterday put his death down to head injuries, saying the victim had fractures all over his skull.

Testifying, Frankie Grima, who owns three establishments and is a partner in five more, said he had once seen Mr Abubaker getting aggressive with the police and even breaking up a police van from the inside while under arrest.

In a later incident, about a year before the one involving Mr Deguara, he was pushed to the ground by the victim, he told the court.

Mr Abubaker had walked into his nightclub and he decided to keep an eye on him but then he started causing problems with two foreign girls.

Mr Grima walked over to him and told him to calm down but Mr Abubaker suddenly pushed him to the floor, at which point Mr Grima called his security personnel who escorted him out.

Mr Abubaker shouted at him and accused him of being racist, to which Mr Grima replied that he employed some 11 African people so he was no racist.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Deguara said he had only been working at Footloose club for some three weeks but recalled that about a fortnight before the incident, the accused had visited the club.

He had caused problems with a woman who said that she was being harassed by him. Mr Deguara kept an eye on him and at one point noticed that he was trying to harass another woman.

When he told him to stop and escorted him to the door, Mr Abubaker asked why he was being asked to leave, saying “Maltese women like black mans”.

After some time of arguing with him, Mr Abubaker started shouting and hurling abuse at him and left the bar.

About a week later, Mr Deguara said, the man tried to enter the bar again but he stopped him and told him that it was a private party and for members only. Mr Abubaker insisted that he be let in.

The accused said he could smell alcohol on his breath and considering the nuisance he had been the last time round and the company policy of turning away trouble makers, he told him that he could not enter.

Mr Abubaker left and Mr Deguara needed to use the toilet so he radioed his manager and told him that he was leaving his post.

On returning he found the victim standing at the bar and called his manager who came down from his office. They gave him time to finish his drink and escorted him to the door, at which point he turned with a bottle in hand and hit him in the chest, Mr Deguara said.

He reacted by pushing him out of the way and Mr Abubaker fell to the ground. He got up, stumbled over a street sign and carried on down the road.

Forensic physician Mario Scerri said the victim suffered massive bleeding on the brain from a fractured skull and bleeding in the chest. The injuries were compatible with a trauma to the head and he died because of these head injuries.

The impact was on the left hand side of his head and he had extensive fractures all over his head.