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Farrugia’s SMSes hint at ‘coaxing’ of witness
SMSes received and sent by GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia after his assault by former colleague Sandro Chetcuti have continued to raise questions over the witness of Farrugia’s specialist Anthony Samuel in court, over the injuries he sustained during the attack.
Chetcuti, 38, a former GRTU council member, is charged with the attempted murder of Farrugia after he assaulted him at the GRTU office in Valletta in March 2010.
In an SMS to his son and defence lawyer Jan-Carl, Farrugia wrote: “I think din tac-certifikati hallejna wisq f’idejhom. You should get advise from Konrad and Anthony Samuel tonight. Jekk jixhdu soft johorgu l-pulizija u lilna ta' hmir. Xi hadd irid jghid li any blow could have killed me.”
(I think we left this matter of the certificates in their hands. You should get advice from Konrad and Anthony Samuel tonight. If their testimony is soft they will make us and the police out to be donkeys. Someone must say that any blow could have killed me.”
The SMS appears to indicate Farrugia’s displeasure at the ‘soft’ interpretation of the injuries he sustained at the hands of Chetcuti. Anthony Samuel was Farrugia’s radiologist.
In another SMS by an unnamed source - but ostensibly from Farrugia's daughter - the message reads: "Hi PA , I just asked Anthony Samuel ( consultant radiologist) to do a special Scan on your ribs to check if there's a fracture ( no difference in terms of treatment, but helps court case). He will contact u through Jan Karl."
Earlier this month, a medical expert appointed by the court for the compilation of evidence against Sandro Chetcuti called into question Farrugia’s initial medical examination by Samuel. Specialist Malcolm Crockford told the court today that scans he examined of Vince Farrugia’s bones after he was assaulted by Chetcuti, exhibited a redness that could not be attributed to the incident itself or any fractures.
Farrugia today told the court that he had wanted his lawyer to push the point that he was liable to be killed with any blow, as a man aged 65.
Another SMS sent to Farrugia by St Julian’s mayor Peter Bonello – which Farrugia forwarded to his son – recommended Farrugia to procure himself “a professor with balls [so that he is not scared of testifying in court]”.
In a previous sitting, Crockford’s earlier doubts on Samuel’s report of Farrugia’s injuries proved to be similar to those shed by another court expert, Dr Mario Scerri. Scerri insisted that Vince Farrugia did not suffer fractures but was only slightly injured, and that a scar on Farrugia’s eyebrow was not serious.
Scerri also challenged the conclusions of Dr Samuel’s report and insisted that Vince Farrugia’s ribs were not fractured. Backed up by a three-phase scan, Dr Scerri explained that the scan showed a re-modelled bone due to a previous injury but there were no fractures.
This was also pointed out in a report by Dr Konrad Borg at the Emergency Department stating that there were no fractures too.
Sandro Chetcuti is being assisted by Dr Edward Gatt and Dr Emanuel Mallia. Vince Farrugia’s counsel is Jan-Karl Farrugia.
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Sur cassie jiddispjacini jkolli nidizzapuntak u ma nindahalx fejn ma nifhimx. Jien la jien tabib u anqas jien avukat allura l-kummennti tieghek fuq scan u mhux scan inhallih ghalihom. Malta kollha taf li X huwa akkuzat li sawwat lil Vince...Jekk hux hati jew le il-Qorti tiddeciedi. Imma zgur li Vince MHUX akkuzat li sawwat lil X. Naqblu jew ma naqblux? Imbaghad ahna, ilkoll kemm ahna, x'interess partikolari fih dan il-kaz.
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Sur Demartino
skuzani tal-lapsus pero biex ikollok ir-risposta li trid nahseb li jkollok tistenna l-konkluzzjoni tal-kaz. Ikun aktar ghaqli li tistaqsi wkoll jekk kienitx gustifikata l-akkuza ta` attentat ta` omicidju kif ukoll jekk il-bone scan li sar fuq Farrugia qattx sar f`kazi simili. Nistaqsi, Farrugia inghata xi trattament specjali? Li kien haddiehor kien isirlu dan il-bone scan, specjament meta fl-X-Ray ma kien hemm l-ebda ndikazzjoni ta` ksur? Possibbli ma jinkwetakx l-SMS li Farrugia ircieva minghand bintu? Dawn l-affarijiet ghandhom jinkwetawk l-aktar, qabel affarijiet ohra. Nahseb li taqbel li kull cittadin ihallas it-taxxa (bhali u bhalek) u ghaldaqstant kullhadd ghandu jigi ttrattat l-istess.
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@ Cassie...kollha bil-maskra dawn. Ahjar tistudja l-affarijiet sewwa hall tkun taf li Giov DeMartino QATT ma kien sindku.
Jien m,a jinteressani assolutament xejn il-kaz ghax jien minhiex avukat bhalek. Jien irrid naf jekk Vince Farrugia issawwatx jew le.
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Sur Demartino mid-dehra thobb tikkummenta fuq kull suggett li jidher fl-istampa. Kun af li l-akkuza ta` attentat ta` qtil kienet esegarata hafna meta tqis li Farrugia qala daqqa wahda u mhux kif allega hu. Dan jirrizulta car muix-xhieda taz-zewg esperti medici li kkonfermaw li l-feriti kienu hfief. Kieku l-pulizija kellha takkuza b`attentat ta` qtil lil kull min jaghti daqqa ta`ponn bhalma ghamlu f`dan il-kaz, kieku l-qorti Kriminali ma tlahhaqx mal-gurijiet apparti li tkun spiza ghall-poplu Malti.
Il-vjolenza hija kundannabbli dejjem, pero wiehed irid jikkundanna kull tip ta` vjolenza, mhux biss dik fizika. Forsi li tipprova tinfluwenza lix-xhieda biex jghidu li l-feriti kienu aktar gravi milli verament kienu mhux tip ta` vjolenza wkoll? Possibbli ma rajthomx l`SMS`s. Jekk verament jinteressak dan il-kaz, imissek tkun prezenti waqt is-smigh tal-kawza. Jekk taghmel hekk forsi tkun f`pozizzjoni ferm ahjar biex taghmel il-kummenti tieghek.
Mhux ahjar tikkoncentra fuq l-elezzjoni tal-Kunsilli lokali li jmiss forsi terga tkun elett sindku flok toqghod tahli l-hin fuq affarijiet bhal dawn.
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OK Sur Anonimu: mela jien nista nfarrkek, naqlaghlek ghajn barra u niksirlek idejk...B'daqshekk m'intix se tmut......Jien ma nistax inkun akkuzat b'attentat ta' qtil anzi NAKKUZAW LILEK li ippruvajt tinganna. Triduna sew!
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@demartino....le huwa attentat ta qtil jew le dik hi l mistoqsija ghax dik hi l akkuza thallatx hass mal bass
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@Martin Borg: Issawwat jew ma ssawwatx? That is the question.
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@aleo
The incident was blown out of proportion because the agressor is said to have called Joseph Muscat on his cell phone and of course the spin department of gonzipn thought this would be a much needed balm to sooth their problems.
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Jekk se nisimghu iktar se nibdew nemmnu li Censu kien l-agressur u mhux il-vittma.
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Sawtuh jew ma sawtuhx?
Krista Sullivan •
mhux wiehed
mhux tnejn
mhux tlieta
mhux erbgha
izda hamsa
Hallina Cens ergajt ghamilt flop kif ghamilt fl-elezjoni MEP's missu f'dak il-poplu dakinhar ..............................
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Typical nationalist hammallu.
Micheal Bonanno •
@aleoi2. The mobile phones were requisitioned through a court order. And they were reluctantly given by Mr. Farrugia. It is on record.
duncan abela •
It seems that Vince Farrugia got hoisted by his own phone!
It is apparent that this minor incident between two GRTU officials got blown out of proportion and should have been resolved amicably.
However one worrying aspect of the case is how were these SMS messages, obtained. If they were obtained illegally from the phone company then this is pure hacking.
Hacking of messages is itself a criminal action where all persons involved can be criminally charged for:
(i) invasion of privacy
(ii) illegal interception of a transmitted message
Further clarification of how the messages were obtained must be investigated by the police and phone company to allay the suspicion of us ordinary mobile phone users that SMS messages are not being blagged without the proper legal authority.
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Qbadnik, Cens!
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cens jekk ha tibqa sejjer hekk, tigdeb u dgerfex flahhar ha taqla xi daqtejn bis serjeta, forsi tigi fsensik.
Zack Depasquale •
Tghid il-GRTU sejjrin jergghu ifakkru l-aveniment importanti ghalihom ta meta is-Sur Vince Maghruf (bhalha ic-cinku) qalgha daqtejn.
Meta sejjer go dan il-pajjiz tidhol il-kultura tar-rizenji u tar-responsabilita personali.
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Today is St Vincent`s Day .Why aren`t we celebrating this holey day .
Mamma mia dan Censu dejjem b`xi haga gdida
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Dan qala' jew ma qalax xebgha?
Godfrey Grech •
J. Zahra: I don't know Sandro and I don't know Vince. I find Vince's hairstyle a bit odd for a 65-year-old Maltese man.
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Bis shabek dawk ta madwarek titnejjek iva Cenz ghax pupazzi , imma tajt mhux ha nitnejjek bil-qorti ta u bil-puluzija !
Igor P. Shuvalov •
L-iskuza li qed igibu xi whud li xorta jibqa' l-fatt li l-akkuzat habat ghal Vince Farrugia, hadd ma jista' jichadha. Dwar dan zgur il-qorti se tati l-gudizzju taghha wara li tismgha x-xhieda kollha. Izda dan ma jfissirx li b'daqshekk wiehed jista jghalaq ghajnejha ghal dak li qieghed johrog mix-xhieda, aktar u aktar meta wiehed jiehu f'kunsiderazzjoni li Farrugia huwa mexxej tal-GRTU , li hu ex-kandiat tal-Parlamenet ta' l-Ewropa u fuq kollox il-profitt politiku li sar minn parti sewwa tal-media dwar dan il-kaz. Tkun xi tkun is-sentenza tal-kawza prezenti, xorta wiehed ghad irid ihares bis-serjeta' lejn dan il-lat ta' l-istorja.
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The transcripts of these SMSs have revealed more than a lot. If I were a juror not only would I ask to drop the case against Chetchuti but exhort the police to investigate this big shot, his family, the Samuel guy and even Bonello the St Julians smart a***. Sounds like a frame up to me. And by the way you'd know if you had a cracked rib. I wonder who paid for the useless scan.
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Jezistu hafna u hafna minn dawn............Lpup lebsin ta' nghag jew inkella Iljuni u Tigri Feroci libsin libsa ta' qattus fidil...........ghawn hafna u hafna fidili!!!!!
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Malta's MurdockGATE
Vince Farrugia should resign and the Police should investigate
Is this the way GRTU is run Sur Paul, clean your act now
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Everybody knows Sandro and everybody knows Vince, I have no doubt that while Sandro was trying to do a very good job for the self-employed, Vince was threatned by the ability of a new comer in the GRTU who seemed to be much more crediable, thats why he tried to use a blocked vote - which could have never worked for Sandro because people know him, respect him and voted for him! Maybe Sandro was brutally attacked physiologically or even bullied by Vince as he thinks he owns GRTU. A 65 year old man is no excuse for provoking people who are trying to do a good job and at the end of the day Sandro was only a volunteer. These SMSs show clearly what type of person Vince is - a rootless person who tried to put an innocient person in prision.
Is-sewwa jirbah dejjem!!!
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Some of the SMSs, especially the one by Peter Bonello, suggest that the medical experts might be "scared" of telling the truth in court.
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Why? Where they being subjected to some sort of bullying - or worse? And could this have had an effect on the testimony of the experts appointed by the court?
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This less-than-intelligent move by the defence lawyers could well backfire on this client.
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Whatever the extent of the injuries...the fact remains that Sandro attacked brutally Vince Farrugia. IF the injuries were not that bad it is only by sheer luck because people heard the attack and stopped Sandro's rampage in time...otherwise God knows what a 38 year old would have done to a 65 year old! Therefore the Sandro's defence council is diverting the real cause of the trial! If the injuries are not THAT bad, it is not because Sandro was gentle, but because he was forcefully stopped just in the nick of time, hence the attempt of murder holds irrelevant of what the actual extent of the injuries is!
Isabelle Borg •
Iz-zejt dejjem jitla f'wicc l-ilma.
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Min jitwieled tond ma jmutx kwadru !
Eddy Privitera
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What is the connection between St Julian's PN mayor and Saint Vincent - one wonders!
