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2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 APRIL 2016 News Fatal stabbing jury, defence says key witness 'not credible' MATTHEW AGIUS THE lawyer defending Emil Atanasov against a murder charge, has attacked the cred- ibility of a key prosecution wit- ness, saying the person testi- fying had himself said he was drunk during the incident, and appeared highly uncomfortable while testifying. The Bulgarian national is claiming to have acted in self- defence when he fatally stabbed Krstic Dragoljub, a Serb, in 2013. The key witness, Dani Krstski, was drunk at the time of the stabbing and was still hung- over when he gave his jumbled statement, defence lawyer Mal- colm Mifsud pointed out, as he made the defence's final sub- missions this morning. Krstski had told the court that Dragolub and Macedonian Zoran Jocic had been leaving the f lat when the accused had darted out. Moments later he heard a grunt. "The implication is clear: that my client attacked Dragolub for no reason what- soever. But my client was not drunk at the time. Who are you going to believe? A person who, from his body language, was clearly uncomfortable testify- ing before you, or my client?" "Krstski had said that all five of them had gone upstairs to the f lat, but then how had the accused opened the door from the inside?" Mifsud asked. "Krtstki had said that they were drunk, but later said that they were 'not completely drunk.' Contrast this with my client, who was clear on what happened even during his inter- rogation, from day one. 'I was holding the knife, I didn't stab him' from day one. Contrast this with Krtstki's confused testimony, which was full of in- consistencies." The lawyer reconstructed the dynamics of the incident from the testimony of those present. "They lifted him [Atanasov] off the ground, like in the films and started punching him. This was the scene that [the accused's f latmate] Goran Manojlovski found." Mifsud painted a frightening picture of the night's events, from the point of view of the ac- cused. "The men were so drunk and out of control... not only did they give him two beatings in his own home, but then they dragged him out. He [Dragolub] didn't realise that my client had the knife pointing at him when he started strangling him. The natural reaction of a person be- ing strangled is to bend back- wards, away from the assailant, who would then bend over him to maintain the pressure." The lawyer insisted that his client had been acting in self- defence, not out of a need for vengeance. He pointed to the accused's explanation that he had taken a crowbar and a knife to scare them in the hope they would go away. "He didn't have the luxury that the landlord had, of turning off the power," Mifsud added. "Yes, the accused could have called the police, but the most they could do would be to tell them to stop making noise and then leave." Judge Antonio Mizzi is pre- siding. Assistant Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia and lawyer Elaine Mercieca are prosecuting. Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud is defence counsel. Two youths injured, one critically, in Tarxien accident TWO youths, one aged 19 and another aged 26, were injured in a traffic accident early yesterday morning. Police were informed of the ac- cident, which took place in Triq San Anard, Tarxien at around 5:10am Tuesday morning. Preliminary investigations suggest that the two vehicles, a Ford Escort and a Mitsubishi L200, crashed into each other as they were driving in opposite directions. The Ford Excort was being driven by a 19-year-old towards Zabbar, and the other vehicle was being driven by a 26-year- old Zabbar resident. Members of the Civil Protec- tion Department were called to the scene and the two drivers were taken to Hospital to receive the necessary medical attention. The 19-year-old was certified in critical condition, whereas the 26-year-old sustained light in- juries. Duty magistrate Dr J Demicoli is leading the investigation, and the road in question has been temporarily closed-off as inves- tigations are ongoing. A 19-year-old was critically injured after a head-on collision with a vehicle being driven by a 26-year old PHOTO BY: GLEN BRINCAT Drunk Libyan threatened to slit his daughter's throat, court told MATTHEW AGIUS A 39-year-old man from Tripoli, who had been living in Malta for 23 years, has been remanded in custody after he was arraigned before Magistrate Audrey Demi- coli yesterday morning, accused of threatening and harassing his wife and children whilst under the inf luence of alcohol. The man, who is not being named to protect the identity of his wife and children, denied the charges, which included carry- ing a knife in public, breaching the peace, breaching the peace and being drunk and disorderly in public. Inspector Josric Mifsud, pros- ecuting, told the court that the man's wife had called the police when her drunk husband had said that he was going to slit their daughter's throat. Defence lawyer Daniel Butti- gieg made a request for bail, which was objected to by the prosecution. Inspector Mifsud objected, however, telling the court that aside from the grave nature of the charges, the accused had threat- ened his own family and was a habitual - and violent - drunk. Buttigieg argued that bail should not be refused bail, point- ing that he was presumed inno- cent until proven guilty and that bail cannot be denied merely to prevent another potential inci- dent. The court, however, turned down the request for bail. Fol- lowing a request by the defence, the court recommended that the accused be given assistance to address his problem with alco- holism. Couple awarded €24,400 in damages for 1988 stillbirth MATTHEW AGIUS A court has ordered the govern- ment to pay €20,400 in damages to a couple whose baby was still- born in 1988, due to a misdiagno- sis of the wife's blood type. Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mc- Keon, handed down judgement in the First Hall of the Civil Court in a case filed by Andrew and Maria Brincat against the Chief Govern- ment Medical Officer, the Medi- cal Superintendent of Mater Dei (formerly St Luke's) Hospital, the Minister for Energy and Health and the Parliamentary Secretary for Health. The couple had claimed that the wife had been tested at St Luke's Hospital in May 1987 after she fell pregnant with her first child, be- ing informed that her blood type was A Rhesus Positive. Their first child, a girl, was born later that year. But during her second preg- nancy in 1988, Brincat's blood type was again tested, twice, and this time the results indicated her blood type to be A Rhesus Nega- tive. After her first pregnancy, a woman with a Rhesus Negative blood type needs to receive treat- ment to prevent her from pro- ducing antibodies harmful to the unborn child, as otherwise any future unborn children of hers with a Rhesus Positive blood type would be at risk of complications. This could lead to the still birth of a subsequent child. Due to the result of her first blood test, Brincat had not been given this treatment, known as Anti-D and the couple's second child was stillborn. The parents argued that the stillbirth of their second child was a direct result of an error in the blood typing in the first blood test at St. Luke's Hospital. A court-appointed medical ex- pert confirmed that the results of the first blood test had been incor- rect. Mr Justice Zammit McKeon declared that it clearly resulted that inaccurate result of the first blood test on Mrs Brincat's blood, carried out at St Luke's Hospital in 1987, was attributable to deficien- cies in the system in place at the time and was not the fault of the technician who carried it out. The court declared the defend- ants to be responsible for the damages suffered by the Brincat family. In arriving at the amount to be paid by way of damages, the court upheld a request for reimburse- ment of costs incurred with travel related to the couple's third preg- nancy. The couple's third child was born healthy, but the Brincat family had to spend six months in the UK, to ensure the pregnancy was dealt with correctly. The couple argued that the stillbirth of their second child was a direct result of an error in the blood testd at St. Luke's Hospital