Elderly man fires shotgun after neighbour parks in 'his' spot

A man from Xewkija in Gozo has told a court how his 87-year-old-neighbour put a loaded double-barrelled shotgun to his forehead and pulled the trigger after he parked in a spot which the neighbour considered to be “his”.

Fortunately, Stephen Mike Cauchi ducked right before the shot was fired.

Cauchi gave evidence against Paolo Mercieca, also from Xewkija, who is denying the attempted murder of Cauchi, his neighbour during an argument in Triq is-Salib on the morning of 7 October.

Mercieca is also charged with slightly injuring Cauchi and with being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Cauchi told Magistrate Joseph Mifsud how on the day of the shooting, his mother had called him to move his car because she had heard Mercieca making a scene outside her house. The woman had also taken footage of Mercieca breaking the passenger window of their Fiat 127.

Cauchi called the police and later went to the police station to file a report. The police then called in Mercieca for questioning. The man arrived at the police station a few minutes later, whilst Cauchi was still there. The two resumed their argument in front of the police.

Cauchi said Mercieca had threatened him.

The police asked Mercieca whether he was going to settle the damages directly with the victim or else take the matter to court. He told the police to take him to court and left the police station.

Cauchi told the court that he had informed the police that he did not wish to proceed with the court case because he had a good relationship with Mercieca and his family, who were also neighbours.

“I left the police station and went to move the car because it looked like it was going to rain. When I got there, he was outside his residence and told me ‘Come let me show you how we’re going to come to an agreement’. I thought he wanted to apologise because he was very calm. He walked to his house, opened the front door and grabbed a shotgun. I was just behind him. He turned and put the gun’s two barrels against my forehead,” Cauchi recalled.

“I tried not to panic even though I saw him becoming agitated but then I saw his finger fiddling with the trigger so I ducked and the shot was fired,” continued the witness. “I knew it took two cartridges so I grabbed the shotgun and tried taking it from him. We ended up on top of each other but I finally managed to take it. I hit him in the chin with the butt of the shotgun to get him off me and it worked as he fell to the ground unconscious.”

Neighbours alerted by the noise had rushed into the street to find him holding the shotgun. He explained to them that it was Paolo who had fired the shot.

Mercieca requested bail which was denied by the magistrate. He was subsequently granted bail after appealing and his daughter stood in as a third-party guarantor. Mercieca was ordered to leave a deposit of €8,000 and provide a personal guarantee of €12,000.

Inspector Bernard Spiteri prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.