Two Italians who were allegedly beaten by a group of bouncers insisted in court yesterday the attack was unprovoked.
Riccardo Miano, 35, and his friend, Luca Di Mauro, 27, gave similar accounts of what happened at about 4.30 a.m. on Valentine's Day, when they were asked to leave Clique night club in Paceville.
The two men were testifying in the first sitting of the compilation of evidence against Stephen Catania, 41, of San Ġwann and Bernard Briffa, 25, of Valletta, who stand charged with the men's attempted murder.
Mr Miano said they had arrived at the club at 2 a.m. but were asked to leave at 4 a.m. He asked his friend to get their jackets and as he was walking out he was suddenly punched in the face by Mr Catania. He said he fell to the ground and was then kicked in the face and lost consciousness only to wake up the next day in hospital.
Mr Di Mauro said he was the first to walk out of the club and as he was doing so he heard a commotion, turned and saw Mr Miano on the floor getting kicked.
He asked the bouncers why they were doing this and Mr Catania told him that "all Italians are a***holes". They then started beating him and he too was thrown to the floor and kicked.
At this point, a police officer noticed that Mr Miano, who was sitting in the back of the court room, was recording the proceedings with his camera, which is not allowed.
Magistrate Doreen Clarke confiscated the camera and defence lawyer Joseph Giglio told the court that his colleague, lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran, had been insulted in the court room by a woman who was sitting next to Mr Miano. The magistrate took note of the incident.
Dr Giglio asked Mr Di Mauro: "Do you expect us to believe that absolutely nothing happened and these bouncers allegedly attacked you for no reason at all?"
Mr Di Mauro insisted there had been no provocation.
Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Nikolai Sant said there was a witness to the crime, a Scottish woman, Nicky Mcdougall, who said she saw the bouncers emerge from a gentlemen's club, Steam, right next to the club where the men were attacked. She also told the police she saw them drag the men by their feet out onto the street.
The officer said he spoke to security guards at both Steam and Clique nightclubs and they all denied their involvement in the fight. He said he checked CCTV footage from two clubs in the area and the wardens' own 360-degree camera but the aggressors' faces were not visible.
The victims identified their alleged assailants in an identification parade.
Under cross examination, Dr Giglio asked the inspector on what basis were the bouncers charged with attempted murder. The officer said the victims could be seen on the floor unconsciousness while the aggressors were kicking them.
Police Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted.
Lawyers Veronique Dalli and José Herrera appeared for Mr Briffa.
Lawyer Emanuel Mallia appeared parte civile.