Judge warns witnesses to tell truth after ‘lapses of memory’

A man jailed for 30 years for his part in the murder of a bank messenger 10 years ago was yesterday warned three times to tell the truth, as he took the witness stand against the second person to stand trial over the killing.

As the trial by jury of Richard Grech, 44, from Qormi, also known as Iz-Zinanna, entered the afternoon session, Joseph Zammit, 52, of Floriana, also known as Żeppi li Redgħu, said he could barely remember anything of what he had previously told the police.

All he could recall was that, on the night before the murder, three men turned up at his house and asked him to drive them to San Ġwann in a rented car. These men, among whom was the accused, also threatened him if he did not do as they asked.

Following further questions put to him by prosecutor Aaron Bugeja, Mr Zammit insisted he could not remember anything else. Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano became impatient and told him he had better start telling the truth or he would institute criminal proceedings against him.

Mr Zammit told him he was “already in prison for nothing”. The judge replied by telling him not to blame him or anyone else.

On the third warning, the judge told him he would remain under arrest at the court house until tomorrow morning until a decision was made about what should be done with him.

The murder took place outside a Bank of Valletta branch in San Ġwann on September 18, 2000, when Alphonse Ferriggi, 42, was posting internal mail at the bank where he worked.

A single shot was fired in a robbery attempt that left him dead on the pavement. The robbers only got away with the mail instead of cash.

Taking the witness stand yesterday, Carmel Borg, 29, handed over a psychiatrist’s certificate to the judge, who, however, declared that he was still able to testify.

Slurring his speech and speaking in a low, raspy voice, he too said he could not remember a thing, because at the time of the murder he was very high on drugs, to which he was very badly addicted.

Although he was warned by the judge to tell the truth, the witness insisted that even if action were taken against him, there was nothing he (the witness) could do if he honestly could not remember.

The accused’s former girlfriend, testified that, although he had confided in her that he might have killed someone, he told a lot of tall stories.

She said she had been in a relationship with him for around a year, before they had a massive argument about him cheating on her and about his drinking, and they broke up.

Faced with questions from the defence team, she told the court that, although he had told her that he might have killed someone, she still went to live with him after the incident because she was unhappy at home. She added that she didn’t think much of his claim because of his habitual bluffing.

Lawyers Chris Cardona and Mark Vassallo appeared for the accused.