T the man accused of il-Bona's murder had had to confront his bully sooner or later and his decision to stab him was inevitable as he was faced with a sudden and imminent threat to his life, the jury heard today.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio made this case during the trial of Allan Galea, who is accused of stabbing Anthony Borg, (il-Bona), to death on February 21, 2010 in Marsaxlokk.

During this morning’s session, Dr Giglio continued with his submissions to the jury, arguing that his client acted in self-defence when faced with an imminent danger to his life.

On the other hand, he was faced by somebody under the effect of alcohol and cocaine, he said. The defence insisted that his client’s reaction was not disproportionate and had not exceeded the limits of self-defence.

Nevertheless, he also argued that if he had to be found guilty of exceeding the limits of self defence the jury still had to take into account the context of the circumstances he was facing.

Dr Giglio then focused on the fact that the accused left his home armed with a knife after receiving numerous calls on his mobile from il-Bona.

He questioned whether he could have ignored him considering that he had been bombarded with calls, or else do nothing at all with the risk that il-Bona would have turned up at this house.

The third option was to call the police, but this could have spelled more trouble as it would have escalated the case.  The other alternative was to get a weapon, just in case he would be assaulted, in the wake of the victim’s reputation, Dr Giglio remarked.

“I wish none of you finds himself in such circumstance,” Dr Giglio told the jurors.

“My client was unlucky as il-Bona offended himself some three weeks before over a petty incident when he had grabbed his choker,” he added.

Turning to the dynamics of the case, the defence argued that the shots fired by the victim were probably not just to warn the accused even though the prosecution kept insisting they were.

“Who would have tried to determine with a protractor the angle at which the persons was firing at him, to check if it was a firing shot or not?”

Dr Giglio noted that one of the bullets was found outside the expected range of a warning shot, by some 20 metres. He pointed out that the victim had deliberately put the life of the accused who sought cover behind a car, in danger.

“Had il-Bona hit his target he would have been the one being tried in court today. Would not you instinctively also tried to hide?” he told the jury.

However, he noted that some of the evidence could have been tampered with as the bullet was found two days later. Whoever had an interest to tamper with the evidence did not do so as the knife had been found immediately, he said.

The defence said that the accused had nothing to hide and even urged the police to analyse CCTV footage from a nearby bank, even though it transpired that this evidence was not helpful.

The defence also questioned the reason why Claire Magri, the victim’s partner hid the weapon. Dr Giglio noted how Ms Magri was eventually charged with perjury and tampering of evidence. “The same person is now trying to make us believe that she acted like this to calm down the situation. Is she credible?” he asked.

Dr Giglio noted how an expert found traces of cocaine which had not yet made a chemical reaction inside the body, meaning that it had just been consumed.

“Il-Bona also seemed to be fond of the notorious Al Pacino, as he even had photos of him on his mobile phone.”

In his passionate address, the defence lawyer noted how no credit cards had been found in the victim’s wallet. “Of course he would not need them, as he was the bank lending money to people,” he noted.

Questions were also raised about some of the testimony given by certain witnesses close to the deceased, with Dr Giglio noting that it was impossible for different persons to give an exact identical account, unless they had rehearsed it together before.

“This only happens in Bud Spencer films when everything can be recounted in detail as the action seemingly unfolds in slow motion,” he said.

In this contex,t he said that the claim made by those close to il-Bona, that the accused came down to the square brandishing a big knife in a defiant manner, was highly dubious. However, they made no mention of this in their initial statements to the police, but only at a later stage during the compilation of evidence.

In a light moment, Dr Giglio pointed his finger towards Franco Debono, who is appearing parte civile for the victim, thanking his “assiduous” efforts which led to the right of a lawyer during police interrogation.

Lara Lanfranco and Kristina Debattista from the Attorney General's Office are leading the prosecution. Giannella de Marco, Dr Giglio and Steve Tonna Lowell are appearing for the accused while Matthew Brincat and Dr Debono are appearing parte civile for the victim's family.

Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi is presiding over the case.