A hammer becomes a pair of nail clippers. And the victim takes the time and trouble to remember being complimented on his nice derriere.
The Malta Independent reported today from the courtroom, on surgeon and at that time Labour MP Anthony Zammit’s testimony:
Questioned by the prosecution, Zammit himself acknowledged that for his aggressors to have instantly found their way to his bedroom from downstairs, they must have had prior knowledge of his “nice old house.”
On the accused’s lisp, Zammit said that the lisp only came out when he was under stress.
(…)
Under cross-examination, defence lawyer Josette Sultana pointed out a number of discrepancies in Zammit’s testimony today and the version of events given to a court expert soon after the 2008 incident. Acting condescendingly at times, Zammit said that the court expert had muddled up the version of events and the estimated age of one of the aggressors.
He said that the statement given was never read out to him by the court expert.
In his original statement, Zammit had said that the accused at one point threatened him with a hammer. Testifying today, Zammit said that the accused threatened him with a pair of nail clippers.
Asked how he managed to notice certain physical features such as “deep set eyes and a prominent nose” when the aggressor was wearing a mask and the assault took place in the dark, an animated Zammit said that he was face to face with Ellul when he pressed a gun to his head and ran the beer bottle over his body.
The lights were turned on in the bedroom when this took place, he said.
(…)
Three speech therapists were next up on the witness stand, confirming that the accused does not have a lisp.
And Malta Today reports:
Ellul then placed a pillow between the gun and the victim, and noticing a beer bottle by the bed, picked it up “and touched [Zammmit] with it”.
“At one point he commented that I had a nice rear and I panicked. I had heard stories of people who had been assaulted and violated and was scared to death,” Zammit said.
A witness, Mark Anthony Ellul, said the accused – whom he knew at the detox centre – had confessed the theft to him. “He admitted his involvement, and told me that they had got a copy of the residence key from one of the men Zammit frequented.
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I really, really don’t wish to say I told you so, so I shall contain myself and be a little more subdued.
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-05-14/news/former-mp-who-was-hogtied-and-beaten-in-own-home-expected-to-testify-today-4990894081/
What a charade. A highly embarrassing charade for the good, gay doctor, but a charade nonetheless.
Fat old Natius “waxworks” Farrugia kept quiet about this one, didn’t he? Wasn’t he “out”, then?
How on earth can a specialist doctor date a boor? Are educated gays that rare in Malta?
Is it pertinent to the case to certify how nice the ass?
Excellent point, Counsellor. I was about to mention it myself. The court now has the duty to verify that testimony. Therefore, it requires an expert witness to assess the veracity of the claim to posterior pulchritude. Tinto Brass specialises in females so the court will have to look farther afield.
I think we have a bun in making for Manu Maltes. Iced, of course.
My god that sounds rude.
Kif tista tafdah biex joperak.
This is the most unfair comment I’ve read so far. I wouldn’t have published it.
In a medical sense, you can trust this man with your life. He is exceptional.
I know exactly what I’m saying – he was my surgeon in two major operations and again my surgeon for a minor one. I have sung his praises the world over.
Judging by reports on media recently, he does come across as weird and shady on a personal level and I have not held back any comments to that effect. But professionally? That is one step too far.
Agree 100%. Same experience and same sentiment.
Doesn’t everyone have the right to have his own private life”?
I thought that all this fuss about equal rights and all that rubbish had something to do with persons like that.
But to try and put to ridicule one of our best surgeons is unacceptable,
If we keep on going this way, judging persons by their political colour, than God help us, if of course He hasn’t given up on us already.
[Daphne – It’s not his politics that’s the subject of discussion, Mr Loporto. Quite a few of us are wondering why exactly he found it necessary to tell the court and the country that his assailant rubbed an empty beer bottle over his naked body and complemented him on his buttocks. I mean, why?]
I wouldn’t trust Muscat with an investment portfolio if I knew he was a habitual liar, even if I knew he was a successful adviser.
Threatened with a pair of nail clippers and complimented on the beauty of my backside.
I, personally, would have been in hysterics.
What a pathetic and sad farce.
May I remind all our newspaper hacks, editors and journalists, that in Maltese English, which is British English, we say “arse”, not “ass”, and that in any case it’s not the sort of word you would use, unless you’re a tabloid or Razzle.
MarsaToday has reproduced the court expert’s analysis, including some hi-res photos: http://marsatoday.com.mt/court-expert-confirms-nice-rear.html/
Why does this all sound like one big made-up story? And why do I have a feeling that this man was just engaging in S & M games, which can sometimes end in deliberate humiliation because they find that sort of thing ‘sexy’?
How the jury can keep a straight face while listening to this saga remains a mystery to me.
Can someone please switch off this farce?