Hugo Chetcuti's murder sitting abandoned after witness hurls insults at accused

A sitting in proceedings against the man accused of murdering businessman Hugo Chetcuti had to be abandoned today, after a witness started to verbally abuse the accused.

Bojan Cmelik’s sarcastic taunts caused uproar as Hugo Chetcuti’s brother-in-law Noel Falzon was testifying. Falzon is operations manager at six of Chetcuti’s outlets.

“I employed his brother Adam Mitic in May 2016. At first he was a good barman. He worked at Bacco by Hugo’s,” began the witness.

“He was working with this piece of shit,” Falzon said after looking back and seeing the accused smiling.

“Laugh, laugh you piece of shit,” Falzon shouted over the magistrate’s protests. Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia ordered the witness out of the courtroom, requiring security personnel to physically restrain the man. “Hi Boss,” smirked the accused as the man was at the door, prompting more yelling.

Parte civile lawyer Joe Giglio angrily told the court that the man had smiled several times during proceedings, particularly when the stabbing was mentioned. “I’m bringing it to your attention now. I opted to ignore it in order to facilitate proceedings. I hope you understand the feelings of the family,” said the lawyer.

Inspector Nikolai Sant asked the court to postpone the sitting for another time as it was unlikely that the witness would have calmed down sufficiently to testify further today.

Outside the courtroom, as the accused was led away, Falzon launched another tirade. "Boss? You call me boss? Fuck your mother, your mother burns in hell you fucking asshole."