Defendant in attempted murder trial fired shotgun out of fear

The accused in a trial for attempted murder took the witness stand this morning to say that he fired his shotgun towards his aggressors after he was 'overcome by fear'.

Mariano Scerri, 49 from Zurrieq, told the court of Judge Michael Mallia that neighbouring farmers had jumped into his field to prohibit him from rebuilding a rubble wall which divided their fields.

On 26 October 2009 the accused had taken his shotgun to hunt for birds. He placed the uncovered weapon against a wall.

He said that Joseph and Redeemer Mifsud threatened him and assaulted him, punching, kicking and throwing him to the ground.

"They picked up stones and threw them at me," the witness said, adding that at one point Redeemer Mifsud picked the shotgun and pointed it towards him.

"I shouted at Redeemer to put my gun down and after 10 times that I told him, he put it down, but they kept on attacking me until I managed to get out of their hold, picked up the gun and shot out of fear."

The accused said he ran to his wife and told her what happened and went to the police station to report what happened. He was later arrested.

Meanwhile the court dismissed the defendant's statement to the police during interrogation, after it was established that he was not granted the right to consult his lawyer.