Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/885114
18 maltatoday, TUESDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2017 News MATTHEW AGIUS THE jury trying Gerald Galea for murder has heard prosecu- tors argue that the accused pen- sioner's beating at the hands of Spiteri's son, Matthew, who "was defending himself", had oc- curred after the accused had run over kiosk owner John Spiteri Galea, 67, from Marsalforn, is accused of the murder of 54 year-old John Spiteri and the at- tempted murder of his son, Mat- thew, in June 2013. The victim and his son had been trimming a tree in the Qbajjar car park to set up their kiosk when an ar- gument broke out with the ac- cused. The prosecution is alleging that Galea drove around the parking area a number of times, taunting the men, before run- ning Spiteri over. The defence is claiming that Galea, who was in- jured in the argument, had been trying to flee the area after being set upon by the two men. "We as the AG believe that Gerald Galea is guilty of the wil- ful homicide of John Spiteri and the attempted wilful homicide of his son," began lawyer Gian- nella Busuttil. The central issue of the trial is not whether Spiteri was killed by Galea's car, or that Galea was savagely beaten up – there is comprehensive medical evi- dence of this – but whether the beating happened before or after Spiteri was fatally run over. Busuttil argued that the ac- cused had never told previous courts that his actions had been provoked by a grievous injury – a petext at law which would at least merit an attenuation in punishment. She argued that his grievous injuries had been suffered "in the totality of the incident" and did not mean that they had preceded the killing. Pointing to the fact that Spi- teri's son had testified to see- ing a trickle of blood on his father's face before he was run over, the prosecution suggested that the accused had punched first. "This was not provoked by Spiteri, rather it was a result of provocation by Gerald Galea." "Not every punch causes griev- ous injuries. All we know is that Galea suffered grievous injuries after the whole scenario played out." She rebuked Galea's defence for attempting to question the son's credibility. "They seem to be saying that nobody died... You should be ashamed of mak- ing this argument," shouted the lawyer. Motive on the part of the ac- cused was not important to find guilt, argued the lawyer, the only thing that mattered was intent. Matthew Spiteri has "no inter- est" in lying, said Busuttil, argu- ing that this had been demon- strated by the consistency in his testimony. The accused has "no de- fence other than throwing mud, attacking everything and evez pointing to objections to the wording of the bill of indict- ment, the fact that an accident reconstruction expert had not been appointed and claiming that no comparative analysis of blood had been carried out. The police had enough proof to prosecute and so they did, ar- gued the prosecution. The defence had emphasised that John Spiteri was a big man, she said, "but if this man who was so strong had been punch- ing him like there was no tomor- row, we would be having a jury for John Spiteri murdering Ger- ald Galea." Dr Mario Scerri had said that the deceased punched Galea once and it wasn't the hardest blow, Busuttil said, asserting that the other three blows had been delivered by his son after the man had killed his father. "And who can blame him?" she asked, pointing out that Galea had been released from hospital the day after the argument. The defence seemed to be try- ing to say that the car was driv- ing itself, said Busuttil. "Ger- ald Galea was driving after the man with the intention of kill- ing him." The victim had been running for his life when he had been deliberately run over by the accused, she said. "Nobody can blame the victim and his son for being angry and punching Gerald Galea once or a number of times," Busuttil be- gan the prosecution's final sub- missions. The prosecutor dedicated most of the morning to an anal- ysis of Matthew Spiteri's testi- mony, which she said, had been corroborated by other witnesses and court experts. Spiteri had testified that it had been Galea who had approached the father and son, while driving his Daihatsu Terios, speaking to them aggressively and threaten- ing to stop them from setting up there again. The argument escalated when Matthew Spiteri had gone to take down the registration num- ber plate of Galea's vehicle, he had heard raised voices and seen his father throwing a punch at Galea. He had seen his father's lip to be cut and bleeding. The prosecution argued that the finding of traces of the victim's blood on the driver's door lent credibility to this version. "We remember when we got punched, but we can't remember where we punched," observed Busuttil. Matthew Spiteri said that his father had moved away and rested against the back of his truck, at which point Galea, af- ter revving the engine, reversed the car and drove around the car park twice shouting "We'll see, Giann!" Witnesses had heard tyres screeching and an engine revving, the lawyer pointed out. Galea had eventually manoeu- vered the car in between the parked truck and the low wall and onto John Spiteri, she said. This had been corroborated by technical experts and an archi- tect, as well as an eyewitness, she said. "In this case, the defence seems to be trying to blame Spiteri for tripping up with a car being driven at him." The defence was arguing the impossible, she said. Prosecution insists that vic- tim's son had beaten up the ac- cused after the murder The prosecution is suggesting that the blows suffered by the accused had been inflicted by Matthew Spiteri, not the victim. "You must put yourselves in the shoes of a young man who has just seen his father crushed by a vehicle driven by the accused. Nobody can blame him for be- ing angry and in the heat of the moment he was possessed by su- perhuman strength." Busuttil referred to the report by medical expert Dr Mario Scerri, who had said that the violent blow, which fractured the accused's eye socket, would cause him to close his eye. "But at what point was he punched in the eye?... The prosecution be- lieves that it had been precisely at that moment that Matthew Spiteri had punched him in the eye and the pain had caused Galea to lose control of the vehi- cle and crash." She pointed to the accused's statement to the police at the time of the accident, in which he clearly indicated the posi- tion of the victim and his son in relation to the car during the incident. "This means he could see clearly before he ran over John Spiteri." Before wrapping up the pros- ecution's submissions, Busuttil gave jurors an overview of the elements of the excusable and justifiable homicide, as well as the concept of legitimate self de- fence, in context of the facts in this case. She called for justice with Spiteri's surviving family, in particular his son. "Death is ugly, separation is horrible, but how much worse is it for the trauma suffered by Matthew Spiteri, who saw his father being crushed to death." The defence, which always has the last word in trials by jury, is expected to reply to the At- torney General's submissions today. After that, Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi will sum up the evidence and arguments made for the benefit of the jurors, before they retire to deliberate on the guilt or otherwise of the accused. Lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Kevin Valletta are prosecut- ing. Galea is being defended by lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jason Azzopardi. Lawyer Joe Giglio is representing the Spiteri family in parte civile. QBAJJAR MURDER JURY Prosecution insists that victim's son had beaten up the accused after father's murder Boy hit by car in Mellieha A six-year-old boy was griev- ously injured on Sunday evening, when he was hit by a car in Triq il-Marfa, Mel- lieha. Police were informed that an accident had occurred at 7:30pm, when a boy, 6, from Germany, was hit by a Mer- cedes Benz, which was being driven by a 27-year-old from Mosta. The boy was taken to Mater Dei Hospital for treatment. Police investigations are ongoing and a magisterial inquiry is being held. AT least eight people have drowned and others are lost at sea after a collision between a boatload of ref- ugees and a Tunisian ves- sel in the Maltese search and rescue region (SAR). The accident occurred at around 2am yesterday, when a Tunisian mili- tary ship "accidentally" rammed a migrant vessel. The irregular migrants' boat was carrying around 70 people, according to re- ports in the Italian media. Around 40 have been rescued whilst many oth- ers remain missing. Italian coastguards were sent in to assist with the rescue operation. They are reportedly be- ing assisted by Maltese authorities and the Armed Forces of Malta. Dozens missing after Tunisian warship collision with migrant boat At least eight people have drowned and many others are lost at sea - ANSA report