Car brakes, screeching tyres, a Porsche Spyder out of control, an instinctive attempt to get out of the away and finally darkness as the vehicle spun out of control, ploughing into bystanders.

This was the vivid account narrated by Gustav Cauchi, one of the unfortunate spectators whose afternoon out at the Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina car show back in October 2015, turned into a nightmare experience, marring him for life.

The young man, who works as a senior chemical analyst, recalled in court on Monday how his outing to the annual car show ended up in a long drawn out ordeal stemming from the life-threatening injuries. The incident was caused when Paul Bailey’s supercar lost control and slammed into a crowd of spectators, leaving 21 injured.

The sports cars enthusiast was testifying in the compilation of evidence against the 13-member core committee of Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina following the incident which marred the October 2015 edition of the car show, spelling the end of the crowd-pulling charity event.

The witness recalled how, after snapping photos of the static display, he had been strolling along the track, stopping halfway to chat with a friend, when the accident took place.

Photo: Steve Zammit LupiPhoto: Steve Zammit Lupi

He had just photographed the Porsche driven by Mr Bailey when turning towards the sudden sound, he caught a glimpse of the car's rear wheel barely touching the grass.

Sensing that the vehicle was out of control, the witness instinctively tried to run in the opposite direction, but had covered no more than a few steps when the Porsche slammed into him.

He was gripped by a sudden burst of pain in his right side and looking down, realised his left leg was badly fractured while his arms were numb, the witness explained. He stopped for a few moments to regain composure as memories of his ordeal evidently flooded back.

Later, at Mater Dei Hospital, the man was found to have been in a critical condition, with multiple fractures to his legs, lacerations on his kidney and liver, as well as abrasions on his back resulting from his being dragged along by the car.

He was gripped by a sudden burst of pain in his right side and looking down, realised his left leg was badly fractured while his arms were numb

Recovery was slow and it was almost three months later that the man finally walked without crutches, returning to his workplace in February 2016. He still had to live with a pin inserted in his leg, not to mention the recurring pain, magistrate Aaron Bugeja was told.

Another victim of that fateful afternoon, Charlot Farrugia, also testified how he had been viewing the static display for some 10 minutes when he heard the sound of brakes and was suddenly knocked senseless by the Porsche, which he just glimpsed heading in his direction.

The witness, a heavy vehicle driver, had no other recollections of the accident since he only regained consciousness in hospital where he was told that his left foot had been fractured.

Although he returned to work some three months later, the man regrets having to miss out on his former gym activity and daily jog on account of the injuries.

Major John Borg, former aide de camp, also testified at length about the planning and organisation which went into the Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina event between 2010 and 2013 under the presidency of George Abela.

He explained, confirming what had already been declared in open court last Thursday by President Emeritus Abela himself, how the core organising committee used to meet regularly at San Anton Palace, on a fortnightly basis between mid-August and the date of the event.

He declared that different members were entrusted with different tasks, according to their area of specialisation and how details regarding different concerns of various stakeholders used to be discussed at such meetings.

Safety had always been on the agenda and the committee would even hold an on-site inspection exercise at Ħal Far some one month before the actual event, building up the programme of activities along the way.

Besides committee meetings, one-on-one discussions were conducted as the need arose, with committee chairman Mark Mallia acting as overall coordinator.

Mr Borg explained how, after the end of the Abela presidency, he had served for some four months as aide de camp to the current president before resuming duties with the AFM and moving out of the Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina picture.

However, before doing so he had, during a meeting with President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and her team on the MCCF, pinpointed and recommended three key players on the core committee who were described as essential for the continuation of the annual event.

These were Mark Mallia, Tonio Darmanin and Duncan Barbaro Sant.

“I wanted those three players to be roped in,” Mr Borg told the court, concluding that without them there was little hope for the event’s continued success.

Police inspectors Josric Mifsud, Silvio Magro and Hubert Cini are prosecuting.

Lawyers Giannella DeMarco and Stephen Tonna Lowell are counsel to Paul Bailey.

Lawyer Joe Giglio is counsel to Tonio Darmanin. Lawyer Stefano Filletti is counsel to Brian Gatt and Julian Manara.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is defence counsel for Ian Cilia Pisani, Kevin Perry and Chris Sultana. Other members of the Paqpaqli team are being assisted by Dr Michael Sciriha, Dr Raphael Fenech Adami and Dr Albert Zerafa.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Michael Grech and Alessia Zammit McKeon assisted the two victims testifying on Monday.

Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia, Reuben Farrugia and Shazoo Ghaznavi are among the other parte civile lawyers.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.