Chantelle Chetcuti’s father has said the knife was still stuck in his daughter’s head when he visited her in hospital after she was attacked outside a bar in Żabbar.

Testifying in court yesterday in the murder case against Justin Borg, Chetcuti’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her two children, Eugenio Chetctuti recounted the trauma he underwent when seeing his daughter in that state, saying his wife had fainted on the spot.

Chetcuti said Borg was “obsessed” with his daughter and that their relationship was sometimes violent, with Borg once breaking down the door to their house during an argument. A few days before the murder, Borg’s own mother called up Chantelle Chetcuti to warn her to be careful of her son “because he’s going to do something stupid” (ħa jagħmel xi waħda).

Johann Azzopardi, a longtime friend of Chantelle Chetcuti, testified that the murder victim had told him on the day of the murder that she was scared Borg was stalking her. He recounted how his friend used to open up to him about her partner’s violent behaviour, once showing her a bite mark which she said Borg had caused. He said Borg had once kicked Chetcuti in the back, leaving her in pain for a whole night and only taking her to hospital the following morning. Doctors told her she was lucky not to have ended up in a wheelchair.

At the end of yesterday’s sitting, magistrate Rachel Montebello ruled she had enough evidence to indict Borg for the murder of Chetcuti.

Inspector Kurt Zahra prosecuted, with the aid of lawyer Kristina Garilli from the AG’s office. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb are appearing for Borg, while Lara Dimitrijevic and Stephanie Caruana are parte civile for Chetcuti’s family. The case continues on April 3.