A man accused of attempting to murder a Tunisian with a trowel admitted he had hit the man but said he only wanted to scare him away.
The court heard how he struck the victim in the arm with the tool, used for plastering, leaving him with a permanent disability and without any sensation in the fingers of his left hand.
Libyan national Hesham Mohammed Shabosh, 34, is facing a trial by jury charged with the attempted murder of Omar Mohammed Baccouche during an argument near the mosque in Paola at 8.30 p.m. on October 18, 2004.
Superintendent Silvio Valletta, who at the time was an inspector, said the police had been informed of the incident by the uncle of the accused, Khalid Josef Lamloun, who had had an argument with Mr Baccouche because the latter's children were bullying the former's.
Testifying in his defence, Mr Shabosh said it was true that he had hit Mr Baccouche but stressed that he had only wanted to scare him and stop him from hitting his uncle with a stick.
He said he had been in Malta for two years and remained here with an expired visa because he was in a relationship with a Maltese girl.
Mr Baccouche "looked like a devil" because he was fighting and hitting everyone with the wooden bar, he said.
"I didn't even want to scratch him. I just wanted to scare him but I was scared of him because he even hit me with the stick. I never argued with anyone before. I hit him but don't remember where. When I saw blood I got even more afraid. I went home and couldn't sleep. I had no intention to kill anyone," Mr Shabosh said as he sobbed in front of the jurors.
He said that on the day, he was driving past his uncle's house and saw Mr Baccouche hitting him with a piece of wood and other people trying to stop the fight. He stopped, grabbed the trowel from the boot of the car, and went to defend his uncle when he heard the victim saying he would kill him.
Mr Valletta said the accused had turned himself in to the police and that, in his statement, he admitted to hitting Mr Baccouche with the trowel, adding that he was sorry for what he had done.
The victim, a Tunisian, said the incident left him without any mobility in the fingers of his left hand. This was confirmed by court expert Mario Scerri who said that Mr Baccouche's artery and nerves had been damaged, the latter permanently.
Mr Baccouche confirmed that there were problems between his children and those of Mr Lamloun. However, he said that on the day of the incident, he arrived early at the mosque and that it was not true that he had gone there to fight. He said it was not the first time there had been friction between Tunisians and Libyans.
He said he was waiting to enter the mosque when all of a sudden he was assaulted by the accused who hit him in the arm with a trowel.
As a result of the incident, he could not work anymore when before he used to earn around €120 a day.
Mr Lamloun testified that at the time he was not speaking to his nephew because he wanted him to leave since his visa had expired. On the first day of Ramadan, his nephew called him to wish him a good Ramadan and said he wanted to be on good terms with him again so he (Mr Lamloun) invited him for dinner.
He said the accused was on the way to his house for dinner when he realised there was an argument going on outside his house.
At the end of yesterday's sitting, the prosecution rested its case and the defence requested an on-site inquiry. The trial was put off to this morning when the defence is expected to start making its submissions.
Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono is presiding over the trial. Lawyer Maurizio Cordina, from the Attorney General's office, prosecuted while lawyer Chris Cardona and Mark Vassallo appeared for the accused.