Kitchen assistant ‘chased manager with meat cleaver’, court told

A man has told a court how he jumped from a balcony onto a neighbouring rooftop while being chased by a Chinese man wielding a meat cleaver.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke was hearing the compilation of evidence against Xiao Guan, a 29-year-old Chinese kitchen assistant accused with threatening two men with the chopping knife.

The man complained of receiving only €752 for all the hours of work he had performed between April and October 8. He also claimed he had been threatened and assaulted by his boss.

Prosecuting Inspector Robert Said Sarreo told Magistrate Doreen Clarke that the man had claimed to have been threatened and assaulted by his boss, as well as having received only €752 for six months’ work.

The claims were being investigated by another police department, said the inspector.

The inspector told the court how Xiao allegedly attacked his former colleagues on October 18th before the kitchen implement was snatched from Xiao’s hands by a Ghanaian man passing by the Marsa apartment.

One of the two alleged victims, Kevin Penghcheng Zhang, testified that Xiao was “not good at his job” and had threatened kitchen staff with a knife at the Valletta Waterfront restaurant some days after it was pointed out to him that he was overcooking prawns.

He had been told not to return to work and was sent a letter, three days later, confirming that his contract had been terminated. Xiao was given 10 days to vacate the apartment which his employer had provided in Patri Felicjan Bilocca street in Marsa.

At the end of the 10 day period Zhang, who is the son of the business owner, called at the flat to confirm whether Xiao had left. Xiao was still there and had refused to leave until he was paid the wages he was owed.

Zhang and Xiao had argued and the witness explained that the accused became aggressive and chased him out of his bedroom, cornering him in the kitchen. The accused allegedly  picked up the meat cleaver and threatened Zhang.

“I was so scared I ran back upstairs and jumped out of the balcony onto an adjoining roof,” he said.

He recounted how Xiao had then run downstairs and threatened the restaurant’s general manager.

Xiao had also threatened to kill the head chef, added Zhang.

The police found €2,100 hidden in the man’s mattress, added Inspector Said Sarreo.

During police interrogation, Xiao had denied chasing the men, instead claiming that Zhang had threatened him with a frying pan, after he took one of his two mobile phones.

Magistrate Clarke denied Xiao bail, noting that his bail application had only been filed yesterday morning and had not been replied to by Attorney General’s office. The court will decide on bail once the Attorney General’s reply was received.

The case continues on November 18.

Xiao was represented by lawyer Christopher Chircop, while lawyer Alexander Schembri appeared in parte civile for the alleged victims.