Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/882846
2 MATTHEW AGIUS GERALD Galea, 67, on trial for the 2013 murder of 45-year-old John Spiteri and the attempted murder of Spiteri's son, Mat- thew, addressed jurors yesterday, recounting how the murder inci- dent started. The fatal action was sparked by Galea's objection to the mutila- tion of a tamarisk tree in Qbajjar car park, Marsalforn. The accused, who said he had spent 47 years in America, spoke slowly but clearly, in a near- monotone. He said he had been at his window when he saw the white truck arriving. A man emerged from the truck and started to hack away at some bushes with a small axe, before driving off after a few minutes. He had prepared to accompany his, now 97-year-old, mother on her daily visit to Ta' Pinu church. As he walked to his car, he no- ticed that the truck had returned to the parking area and he had decided to have a chat with the men about the tree. Galea said he had pulled up alongside the Isuzu truck, stop- ping parallel to it, contradict- ing Matthew Spiteri's claim that it had stopped at right an- gles, in front of it. The victim was standing close to the pas- senger door of the truck, he said, while the younger man was carrying a "big axe". "I spoke to the father first," Galea recalled. "We live in Go- zo. Everybody speaks to each other in Gozo. Where I live it's normal behaviour to speak to each other. Even dogs smell each other in the street." Galea explained that the men had replied simultaneously, but that Matthew Spiteri had told him that the tree was a breed- ing ground for mice, whilst John Spiteri had said he needed space to set up his kiosk – "biex ikolli fejn noqghod". Galea recognized John Spi- teri and had asked the men why they were damaging the tree. He warned that if they continued to mutilate it, he would report the matter to the police, reaching for a notebook as he did so. The accused and the victim never spoke, he said, but he re- called that the father was visibly "somewhat annoyed" and had told his son to take down Galea's car registration number to file a police report of their own. The son had laid down the axe and squatted in front of his car to take note of the car's number on his mobile. "I looked down to select reverse… and started my manoeuvre to turn right." Suddenly, said the accused, the father's hand came in through the window and clutched his throat and he was punched. "I was trying to push him away... hand on throat, other fist firing into my face like there's no to- morrow." After that, he said, all he remembered was darkness, his head spinning, and excruci- ating pain. He could not find the gear shifter, he said. "My foot couldn't press any harder" on the accel- erator pedal. The son then wrestled his fa- ther away from the accused. Galea said he eventually found the gear lever and tried to drive off but the car started going round in circles. "I can tell you, my head was splitting. No glasses, this eye can't see, seeing stars… my car started going round in circles and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. I can't tell you where I stopped. Then I hear the man say 'Madonna I'm coming in there to kill you'." The victim opened the driver's door and lunged at Galea, who ended up pinned down under the combined weight of Spiteri and his son, who was trying to pull him off Galea. As the weight lifted, his hand could actuate the gear lever, but the steering wheel kept slipping from his hands. Galea said his only thought at the time was to escape. "I was thinking: 'two of them, an axe. Fine. I'm going to die.' All I could think of was to get myself out of there. My head hurt, I kept saying 'God almighty I'm going to die'." "My foot never released the ac- celerator pedal. When the father hit me the second time, I was frozen in panic, I wanted to get the hell out of there. All I can remember is telling him "why, for God's sake why? For a lousy weed?" The accused, who suffered mul- tiple head fractures, compared the pain he experienced to "a mi- graine multiplied by infinity." "It was horrific. Tell a mother who gave birth to a child to ex- plain her pain to a woman who has not borne children," said the accused. "The driver's door was jammed. I thought I was going to burn or get blown up, so I crawled out of the passenger side on all fours." The son came up to him and punched him in the head be- fore people pulled him away. "Commotion, screaming, sirens. Someone saying 'that man needs ice'." "All I could think of was that someone had to tell my mother that I could not take her to Ta' Pinu." The psychological trauma per- sisted to the present day, he said. "If I'm in a car and go over bumps, I re-live the whole ordeal." He no longer takes his moth- er to Ta' Pinu, he said. "I go to churches to pray for family, my- self, families of traffic victims, for the Spiteri family who lost a man." maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2017 News QBAJJAR MURDER TRIAL HAVE YOUR SAY OPEN PUBLIC CONSULTATION The Planning Authority has drafted planning parameters for the northern part of the Area of Containment (AoC) at Tal-Ħandaq in Qormi. The main purpose is to establish the land use zoning, building height limitation and road alignments within the Area of Containment and improve the area. The existing AoC, with an area of approximately 68,200 sqm of which approximately 23% is already developed, is directly adjacent to the Tal-Handaq Enterprise Hub. With this proximity it is proposed that this AoC is prioritized and zoned for industrial and warehousing purposes. No residential uses will be permitted. The proposed policy guides all new or redevelopment projects within the AoC to improve the general visual appearance of the area and its surroundings. This is to be achieved through higher quality design. It is also a priority requirement that all projects provide the required spaces for internalised vehicle circulation, loading/unloading areas and parking areas. The draft planning policy together with the maps and the submissions received from the public on the partial review objectives may be viewed on the Planning Authority's website www.pa.org.mt/consultation The Planning Authority invites the public and interested parties to send their comments and feedback related to this proposed review policy. Representations are to be made in writing to the: Planning Authority Tal-Handaq – Area of Containment St. Francis Ravelin Floriana FRN1230 or through email address: handaq_north@pa.org.mt Submissions must be sent to the Authority by not later than Friday 27th October 2017. www.pa.org.mt PLANNING AUTHORITY Area of Containment Site at Tal-Ħandaq North, Qormi - (Phase 2) Accused: 'I kept saying: God Almighty, I'm going to die' 67-year-old Gerald Galea gave jurors a vivid account of the incident that led him to be charged with murder