WITNESSES have given their testimonies in the case of a US military man who was allegedly run over by a Bahraini outside a night club in Juffair last December.
Defence lawyers at the High Criminal Court examined witness statements to ascertain if the defendant was drunk and whether the two got into a physical fight.
The court heard the stories of several people who were present at the scene, including the victim himself, his wife, a friend of the defendant and two employees of the Juffair hotel.
“The man who assaulted me was in an unnatural state,” the 32-year-old victim told the court.
However, he denied getting into a physical altercation with him, as claimed by the defendant.
The US military man’s wife, who was employed at the club, also alleged that the defendant was ‘enraged and intoxicated’.
Her colleague and fellow national added that she saw the victim being run over by a ‘seemingly-drunk’ defendant.
A second colleague, an Ethiopian security guard, said he was two to three metres away when the white Toyota Corolla which the defendant was in ploughed into the serviceman.
“Many people were watching the incident and were trying to stop the car,” said the 38-year-old from Nuaim.
“I had spoken to the Bahraini defendant earlier on the phone and he sounded just a little drunk,” he said, adding that he did not see any physical fight between the two prior to the incident, though there were verbal arguments.
A Sudanese man, the defendant’s friend, however, denied that his mate was drunk.
“He was so disoriented and confused as he was beaten by five Americans outside the club,” he said.
“I saw him on the ground being assaulted by the servicemen,” said the 23-year-old, to whom the car belongs.
“I believe he was not really aware of what he was doing when the incident occurred, he was just trying to get away from the scene and accidentally hit the victim.
“We were trying to get him into the car to take him home, but he suddenly entered the car, sat in the driver’s seat and did what he did.”
According to the victim, the friends in question have since returned to the US.
Meanwhile, the defendant claimed that the American had a knife on his person.
At the end of the session, defence lawyers requested the judges to enter the victim as a defendant in the case, which they claimed is done with incidents involving brawling.
The GDN previously reported that the incident followed an argument between the victim and the defendant, who allegedly pushed the former’s fiancée – now wife. The 25-year-old had denied charges of insulting and attempting to murder the victim at an earlier hearing.
The serving American criminal investigations officer at the naval base in Juffair was rushed to Bahrain Specialist Hospital by friends and underwent a series of operations after sustaining serious back and rib injuries.
He suffered a 15 per cent permanent disability according to a medical report attached to case files.
The American previously described the horror of hearing the vehicle’s tyres screeching before desperately clinging on to the front bumper before being thrown into the air. He recalled the vehicle being driven over him three times before fainting.
The trial has been adjourned to Tuesday to hear prosecution testimonies.
&uuid=(email))