Young witness describes scene after PC Simon Schembri hit and run

A young witness yesterday described the hit-and-run incident on 15 May that left a policeman fighting for his life.

The witness was testifying yesterday morning via video conferencing as part of the compilation of evidence against 17-year-old Liam Debono, who stands accused of attempting to murder traffic policeman Simon Schembri in a hit-and-run near Luqa.

The policeman had stopped a Mercedes being driven by Debono for a seat belt infraction when Debono allegedly drove at the officer, trapping him under the car and dragging him along the road for around 400 metres.

Debono was arrested a short while later.

PC Schembri, 48, lost an arm and was critically injured in the incident but is now recovering.

The young woman described how PC Schembri had dismounted his motorcycle and signalled to driver behind him to stop. He lifted his visor to speak to the driver and asked him for his ID card. The driver refused to hand it over, signalling with his head.

The constable went to his motorcycle to radio somebody. Then he went back to the car.

The defence counsel asked the witness if the car had been moving or whether it had been stationary.

She said it had been moving slowly and the policeman had raised his arms to tell the driver to stop, but the car then ran him over and picked up speed.

“The officer was mowed down. I didn’t see him anymore. I saw something fly, it was a glove which someone picked up later,” the witness said, adding that she phoned 112 to seek assistance.

A recording of that call was played out to the witness. The caller was a female who was sobbing uncontrollably in a highly agitated state. Yet amid the sobs, one could clearly make out “Għadhom kemm qatlu pulizija” (They have just killed a policeman).

The court was also informed that court expert Keith Cutajar had found that Liam Debono’s mobile phone was password-protected. He needed the password from the accused to be able to carry out his brief.

The defence formally objected because the accused was not obliged to bring forward any evidence in the criminal proceedings.

The court said that while it understood the argument of the defence, it was authorising the expert to try to obtain data.

Inspectors Pierguido Saliba, Fabian Fleri and Chantelle Casha prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared parte civile.