Former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo felt he had to tell a priest he had received money in connection with the reduction of a prison sentence but insisted he still had a clear conscience because the judgment was correct.

The statement, made while Dr Arrigo was testifying in the last phase of his corruption trial yesterday, was the first time the court, presided over by Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, heard him confess he had received money in connection with the case.

He admitted lying to the police to divert their investigations and that he made a lot of mistakes, including that of not reporting being offered any money. However, he persisted in denying having been bribed, arguing that the money did not alter his judgment, which was written before the "gift" came into the picture.

"I have been asked to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have been waiting seven years for this moment. I accept that I made many mistakes but two things are certain: I never accepted money before handing down the judgment and that, in this judgment, I did my duty to the best of my ability," he said, at the opening of his testimony.

He spoke for four hours, sitting on a chair beside the witness stand with a Rosary ring on the small finger of his left hand. Dr Arrigo stands charged with accepting bribes and trading in influence for accepting to reduce the jail term of convicted drug trafficker Mario Camilleri, known as L-Imnieħru, from 16 to 12 years.

Former Judge Patrick Vella was jailed for two years in March 2007 on the same charges.

Dr Arrigo said he was sorry for what he did but insisted he had consistently refused the money he was offered in this case. He added that when his childhood friend, Anthony Grech Sant, went to his office and dumped an envelope with €11,650 on his desk he simply did not return the money because of a "moment of confusion".

"In hindsight, I could have done many things. I could have run after him but, in the confusion, I did not react. I was flabbergasted," he testified.

He said he did not tell the police because Mr Grech Sant was his friend but admitted that this was one of many mistakes that "someone in the position of Chief Justice should not have done".

He said he was a very good friend of Mr Grech Sant but that he had never discussed cases with him before this.

One day, Mr Grech Sant told him he had a friend who needed help with a judgment before the Appeals Court and that his family was prepared to pay €23,000. The former Chief Justice said he made it clear he did not do such things and stressed he did not want any money.

Coincidentally, sometime later, he met Joseph Zammit, known as Is-Sei, who told him that Mr Camilleri had been sent to jail for longer than he deserved but did not mention any money during the conversation.

Then, a day before Mr Camilleri's judgment was due to be delivered, Dr Arrigo said he popped down to a shop right beside that of Mr Grech Sant in Valletta to pick up some shirts. There he met Mr Zammit again, in another chance meeting and the latter raised the Camilleri case. Dr Arrigo replied he did not want any money and that the accused would get what he deserved, even a shorter term, if that was according to law.

By that time, the judgment had already been written and approved by the three judges, Dr Arrigo said.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Grech Sant phoned to say he was under pressure from Is-Sei and the witness said he told him that the judgment would be of 12 years imprisonment.

Dr Arrigo said that on the two occasions when he was offered money he refused. He never expected anything and had never phoned or communicated with Mr Grech Sant on the matter. He said it was not logical to accept money once the judgment had been delivered when he had refused it before.

Dr Arrigo continued that on the afternoon of the day when the appeals judgment had been handed down, Mr Grech Sant had gone to his office and deposited an envelope on the desk.

Dr Arrigo said he insisted he did not want anything, to which Mr Grech Sant replied that he had only done his job. Mr Grech Sant had said there were €11,650 in the envelope and that a second payment would be made within two months.

Having not managed to sleep all night, Dr Arrigo continued that the following day he had told his employee, Joe Galea, about the issue. He told Mr Galea that if it weren't for the friendship between Mr Grech Sant and himself he would not have acted in such a way.

He had decided to give the money to charity but suspected that the cash was counterfeit, so he took two Lm20 notes and spent them at some shops. He never counted the cash until the day he gave the envelope to a priest, one of three confessors, to pass on to the police.

But before that Dr Arrigo had spoken to another priest, Fr Saviour Grech, informing him he had accepted the money.

Referring to the statement he had given to the police, Dr Arrigo said there were some things he said that were not true, pointing out that during the interrogation he was not testifying under oath.

"I never reported anything to the police because when I accepted to speak to Mr Grech Sant the first time my hands were tied. This was one of my several mistakes. I never accepted any money or a bribe to do my duty but I did my duty to the best of my ability. I know I should have reported the matter to the police," he said.

He explained that the reduction in the sentence came about on the strength of an agreement between the prosecution and the defence on a prison term of between 10 and 12 years.

Another consideration, he said, was the early admission by the accused, which made him eligible to a reduced penalty.

Moreover, Dr Arrigo insisted he had the support of the other two judges on the Appeals Court, stressing that had Mr Justice Joseph Filletti (the only one of the three judges on the case against whom no allegations were ever made) objected, he would have put off the judgment.

"If I had to write the judgment 100 times, I would write it in the same way. I have a clear conscience about this judgment", he insisted.

The third consideration was the penalties imposed in similar cases and penalties imposed in more serious cases. He mentioned as examples two drug trafficking cases in the two years preceding Mr Camilleri's case when two men were jailed for nine years and eight years and five months respectively on similar charges.

Dr Arrigo said he took into consideration Mr Camilleri's criminal record, which at the time was clean.

The head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's Office, lawyer Anthony Barbara, prosecuted.

Lawyers Joseph Giglio and Robert Abela appeared for Dr Arrigo.

The case continues.