Duncan Deguara, the bouncer who stands accused of seriously injuring a Sudanese man, causing his death, told a court today that the victim had caused trouble in the same club in the previous week.

32-year-old Mr Deguara, who lives in Paola, is pleading not guilty to causing the death of Suleiman Ismail Abubaker, 28, when he pushed him out of Footloose club, causing him to slam into the ground.

Mr Abubaker suffered a fractured skull and lung contusions. He fell into a coma and died 11 days later.

Witnesses claimed to have seen Mr Deguara punch and push the victim before he hit the ground.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Degaura said he had worked as a security guard for 11 years and was employed by Footloose for about three weeks.

He said that when he started working at Footloose, the manager told him that people who were under age, drunk or in unsuitable attire could not be allowed in.

Some two weeks before the incident, Mr Abubaker had been at the club. Two women had complained  that he had touched them inappropriately. Mr Deguara promised to keep an eye on him.

He had seen Mr Abubaker go into the second bar and grab a woman who was there to buy a drink.

Mr Deguara said he went over to Mr Abubaker and noticed that he had a strong smell of alcohol. Mr Deguara said the victim told him, while gesticulating, that Maltese women liked black men’s sexual anatomy.

Mr Deguara said he told him to get out and escorted him to the door. The victim shouted at him using vulgar language.

A week later, he saw Mr Abubaker again. He appeared to be drunk and he therefore stopped him outside the club, telling him that there was a private party inside. 

Mr Abubaker appeared to move on but he then made another attempt to get in. Again, he told him that he could not enter since there was a private party, and he left after a brief argument.

Mr Deguara said he then went to the bathroom. When he returned, he found Mr Abubaker at the first bar. He called his manager on the radio and said that the person they had thrown out a week before was back in. The manager told him to take him out again. Mr Deguara said he went up to Mr Abubaker and asked him to finish his drink and leave.

When he asked why, he told him he had caused problems before when he was drunk.Mr Abubaker pushed his hand away. Mr Deguara said he escorted him to the door. Suddenly Mr Abubaker tried to hit him with a bottle and therefore he pushed him. 

Mr Abubaker stumbled and fell backwards. 

Mr Deguara said Mr Abubaker then got up and walked down the road.  He did not know what happened afterwards.

The police arrived some time later and asked him about the incident. He told them that he had thrown a customer out because he hit him with a bottle. When his shift came to an end at 6.30 a.m., he called at the police station and the police asked him to return at 4 p.m. In the meantime, he went to the health centre because he had a chest injury.

Mr Deguara said he had never been in trouble with the police before this instance and he had only pushed the victim because he had been attacked with a bottle.

Earlier, Frankie Grima, the owner of a number of establishments in Paceville said the victim had caused trouble at one of his clubs a year before and had to be thrown out by security personnel.

He said the first time he saw the victim was in 2008 when he had a problem with the police. They could not control him and had to use pepper spray. A van was extensively damaged.

Mr Grima told the court that he owns BlackBull and Plush Bar and Lounge and is a partner in Havana, Steam, Koyote, Buffalo Bill's and Cabana's.

He said that some months later, he was near the door of Plush and recognised the victim immediately and let him in. As he wanted to avoid trouble, he kept an eye on him.

At around 3 a.m., the victim was seen causing trouble with two foreign girls. He went to speak to him and told him to calm down. He told him he could stay but he had to act normally.

The victim, Mr Grima claimed, pushed him to the ground. As he was a big man he called security and they threw him out. The victim started calling Mr Grima a racist but he told him he employed some 12 Africans so he was not.

WITNESSES DESCRIBE THE SCENE

Former dancer Ashley Conti said she knew the accused at Footloose, where they both used to work.

She was working on the day of the incident and on seeing the commotion went to look outside.

Her friend Chris Tanti’s car was outside and she thought something had happened.

Ms Conti said that at the time she used to drink a lot, and said she saw a person lying on the pavement. She said she filmed the incident with her mobile phone but later lost the phone.

She said that the man got up and stumbled on a street sign. An ambulance then arrived and she did not know how he ended on the ground. He was helped up by some people.

Defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi asked Ms Conti why this was the first time she said she had been drunk. She said that probably she had not been asked.

Christian Tanti also testified that he knew the accused at Footloose, where he used to go for a drink after closing his bar.

On the day of the incident, he went to Footloose with Kelvin Whitelaw and stayed outside because his car was there. They were opposite the club and there was a commotion between the victim and the accused.

This started when Mr Deguara stopped the victim from going into the club. The victim began waving his hands and Mr Deguara pushed him.

“He fell at my feet and I heard the crack of his head hitting the ground.

“He stayed on the on the ground for five to 10 minutes and when he managed to get up I was shocked.

“He looked drunk, stumbled into a sign and fell down again. People helped him up and he walked down the road towards Axis.”

Mr Tanti said that the victim was with his back to him and his friend when he tried to get into the club so he could not really see how Mr Deguara had pushed him.

Kelvin Whitelaw also told the court that he knew the accused as a Footloose bouncer.

He said he was near Mr Tanti’s car having a drink when he saw the victim arguing with the accused.

He said that at one point Mr Deguara pushed the victim from the chest and he fell backwards and hit his head on the floor. He got up, stumbled into a sign and fell again. He heard his head hit the ground.

The case continues