The man charged with the attempted murder of 20 people at the Mqabba PN club on December 20 wanted to get his own back after allegedly being punched by the club's president while waiting for the general election results last March, a court heard yesterday.

Testifying on the first day of the compilation of evidence against Carmel Saliba, 31, of Kirkop, club president Michel Farrugia said he had told the accused that nobody from the club had punched him and that he should not make such accusations.

Mr Farrugia told the court that on the day of the Mqabba shooting incident he had organised a meal at the club.

He went to his car to fetch his mobile phone and as he returned, the accused walked past him and into the club bar looking very angry.

Mr Farrugia said Mr Saliba then accused him of having punched him on the day after polling in the general election. An argument broke out between the two and they starting pushing each other, having to be separated by friends.

Before leaving the club, Mr Saliba promised that he would get his own back that night, Mr Farrugia claimed.

Soon afterwards, somebody told him that Mr Saliba had reversed his car into his.

The police were called.

But as they were being informed about what had happened, Mr Saliba returned, driving his van at excessive speed into the middle of the square and stopping not too far from the club.

Mr Farrugia said he then saw Mr Saliba bring out a shotgun from the back of his car and he started running towards the club.

The police went for Mr Saliba and tried to wrestle him to the ground. Shots went off and Mr Farrugia felt lead hit him in a wave across his back.

Breaking down in tears, Mr Farrugia said his sister Silvana Callus had helped John Leonard close the doors of the club. She too was hit and fell to the floor where she lay losing a lot of blood.

"I thought she was dead, seeing her there and my brother holding her head."

He said Mr Saliba then managed to break a side window of the club with the barrel of the shotgun and tried to fire again. "That is when I thought to myself that he was now really going to kill us."

According to police testimony, there was no ammunition left in the shotgun at that point.

Club secretary Paul Spiteri also took the witness stand, saying he recognised Mr Saliba in court because he was very conspicuous on that Sunday while waiting for the election results.

He was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a slogan in favour of hunters and was celebrating standing on a wall. Mr Spiteri said that at one point he saw Mr Saliba on the ground but did not know how he got there.

"On the day when he shot at the club, I was standing outside with Mr Farrugia and his brother and Christian Mifsud and when the police got there I complained that they had taken too long to arrive," he recalled.

As they turned to walk into the club and explain what had happened to the police, Mr Saliba sped up in his car, took out a shotgun and the police tried to wrestle him, Mr Spiteri testified.

Mr Spiteri ran behind the church. He said he made eye contact with Mr Saliba and he thought he was about to point the gun at him.

After the shooting he rushed back to the club and started banging on the door to be let in as he had come with a friend who was going to give first aid to any victims.

"I found my wife on the roof of the toilet, very scared, as she had climbed up onto some crates of soft drinks in the panic."

Testifying, Police Inspector Anthony Portelli said Mr Saliba was very aggressive and had tried to resist arrest before being taken to the police headquarters.

Inspector Michael Mallia described the accused as being very uncooperative on that day but as having calmed down the day after so that the police were able to talk to him.

The inspector said Mr Saliba admitted taking the shotgun to the club and shooting at the door but only wanting to scare Mr Farrugia and not kill him.

Defence lawyer Martin Fenech asked the court to ban publication of all details of the case after an interview aired on TVM with one of the victims gave details of what had taken place.

Dr Fenech said this was prejudicial to his clients' case because, if it was to be decided by a jury, the jury would be made up of members of the public who would remember what had been said and would therefore have pre-conceived ideas on whether his client was guilty.

Inspector Mallia disagreed, saying the judge would explain this to the jurors and there would therefore be no worry of that occurring as every precaution was taken.

Presiding Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani said she was not going to hear the case behind closed doors but asked the journalists present to exercise caution in their reporting.

The case continues on February 6.