Court acquits Deniro Magri from hatchet attack charges after case's re-hearing

A man from Marsa has been acquitted - for the second time- of attacking a man with a hatchet in a bar after the Criminal Court had declared the entire compilation of evidence to be null, owing to a procedural defect by the prosecution and sent the case back to be reheard.

In a sitting this afternoon Magistrate Nadine Lia cleared Deniro Magri of all charges relating to an alleged assault at a bar in Marsa, after hearing all the witnesses in the case testify again.

The alleged victim and sole eyewitness to the alleged attack, Salvatore Cutajar, refused to testify so as not to incriminate himself, after the Magistrate explained that she could not assure him that he would not be prosecuted, despite the police’s assurances, because the other party could still file a criminal complaint against him, thereby forcing the police to charge Cutajar.

Inspector Stacy Gatt said she had no control over what could emerge in other proceedings and said it was better at this stage to administer a caution to the witness.

The magistrate told Cutajar that whilst there was no decision to charge him at the moment, this did not prevent the police from charging him in future about other aspects of the crime, as the investigation was still ongoing.

After this was explained to him, the court asked the witness whether he wished to testify. Cutajar said he did not wish to testify.

Another witness, Roberta Cutajar who testified for the first time today, denied all knowledge of the incident. Asked whether she knew of any incident involving Deniro Magri, she said she hadn’t.

“Nobody ever spoke to me about anything,” she said.

A police sergeant took the stand next, testifying that he had gone to the scene and spoken to the victim, Salvatore Cutajar. “There was also a certain Roberta and Herman Mackay at the scene,” who he had spoken to, he said.

“Roberta had been contacted by her brother about Deniro Magro,” the sergeant said. “The victim had contacted Magro to come to the scene to explain some broken glass. Roberta told the police that she had informed the control room, but had not been there at the time of the incident, added the witness.

Defence lawyers Giannella De Marco and Franco Debono pointed out to the sergeant that he had not been there at the time of the incident and that the others, bar Salvatore, had not been there either. He confirmed this.

Similarly unhelpful to the prosecution was the testimony of Herman Mackay, who told the court he was a self-employed handyman from Marsa.

The court asked him whether he had anything to do with this case. “No. I don’t even know why I’m here,” he replied.

“Deniro Magri. Did he cause you any damage or harm?,” asked the magistrate. “No.” he replied.

Inspector Gatt pointed out to the witness that he had been spoken to by the police about “certain things.”

“I said nothing. I never went to the police station. There would be statements otherwise,” he promptly replied, before denying ever speaking to the police.

She asked that the witness be declared hostile, asserting that he had been spoken to by the police.

The magistrate asked him whether he had ever been spoken to by the police about this case, pointing out that they have written reports indicating that he had. “The police station never sent for me, for sure,” Mackay replied, stating that he had only gone to the Hamrun police station to pick up his summons.

The magistrate reminded him that he was under oath. “In the station, definitely not,” he repeated. “What about not in the station? Have the police ever spoken to you?” asked the magistrate.

The witness fell silent. “Had you passed on any papers?” suggested the magistrate, but Mackay also denied this.

The prosecution was allowed to make direct questions to the witness, asking him whether he owned St. Michael’s bar. “It is registered in my name, but I do not manage it, it is not my job,” Mackay replied.

The magistrate then asked him what damage Deniro Magri had caused him. “To me he did nothing as I don’t own the bar, I just own the licence,” said the witness.

The inspector suggested that he had told the police that he would give them an estimate the costs of repairing the broken glass on a door. “I didn’t suffer any damages.” Insisted the witness.

Asked by the court whether he was present for any incident, Mackay answered :“I was not present for anything,”

After the prosecution witnesses all claimed that nothing had happened, Inspector Stacy Gatt took the stand. She told the court how the police control room had received a call for assistance due to an argument in St Michael’s bar in Marsa. A police sergeant and another officer had gone to the bar and found Salvatore Cutajar, who explained to the police that a short while before, Deniro Magri had gone to the bar and started shouting , throwing a chair in his direction. He said he had run away and was chased by Magri, who was shouting that he would kill him and that it wouldn’t end here. Magri came back with an axe and started waving it at Cutajar, who pulled out a knife to defend himself. Deniro had left the scene in a blue car, smashing the door of the bar as he went, concluded the inspector.

But cross-examined by the defence, the inspector explained that she had not gone to the scene herself, having been informed of the incident after. She had sent for Cutajar and spoke to him in her office.

Cutajar was medically certified as having been slightly injured and Roberta Cutajar had called the police, added the inspector.

The accused and Cutajar had been involved in an altercation the night before, because Magri had argued with Cutajar’s sister, she said. A warrant of arrest was subsequently issued and Magri was detained, the inspector went on. He had consulted with lawyer Giannella De Marco and had not answered any questions, nor had he signed his statement. The charges were then issued and he was subsequently arraigned on 1 August 2020.

The prosecution asked the court to rule that it had seen sufficient prima facie evidence to place Magri under a bill of indictment, but this was strongly objected to by the defence lawyers.