A man accused of being an accomplice in an armed robbery in 2009 was fully aware he was collaborating to commit a crime and later even tried to put the police off track by filing a false report, a court heard today.

Lawyer Elaine Mercieca from the Attorney General’s office was addressing jurors in the trial of  Matthew Mizzi, 29 from Cospicua who is charged with being an accomplice in the aggravated theft, as well as the attempted murder of a shop owner.

The trial, which started last week is now drawing to a close, and Mr Justice Tonio Mizzi is expected to start addressing jurors today.

The case dates back to April of six years ago when Jonathan Coleiro, who is serving a 15-year jail term on this case, had shot at the owner of  Seven Mobiles in Psaila Street, Birkirkara, who had chased him outside his establishment.

The defence is insisting that the hold-up was all of Mr Coleiro’s doing and that he had taken advantage of Mr Mizzi’s heroin withdrawal symptoms to trick him into giving him a lift to the shop.

Dr Mercieca, who is leading the prosecution, argued that the accused had accompanied Mr Coleiro to commit the crime and had even waited for him in a car with the engine on to be able flee away as soon as possible.

Moreover, the accused was also present when the perpetrator made two perforations in a woollen garment which he used as a balaclava, she said.

As for the charge of complicity in the attempted murder, the prosecution argued that there was "tacit agreement" as the accused had not done anything to prevent or discourage Mr Coleiro.

The prosecution told jurors it was quite strange that while waiting for Mr Coleiro in the car, the accused remained calm, even after hearing several shots being fired. 

Dr Mercieca noted that the statements given by the accused during the interrogation were not credible on various counts. She noted that the balaclava was found a considerable distance away from where Mr Mizzi had indicated and no reasonable explanation had been given for this.  The prosecution said this was intentionally done to put investigators off track.

Jurors were also told that it did not make sense that the accused admitted in court to falsely claim he was being threatened by Mr Coleiro, but at the same time plead not guilty of being an accomplice.

She also pointed out that Mr Mizzi’s statement that Mr Coleiro removed the balaclava in front of him did not make sense unless the accused was fully aware of what was going on.

“Victims never lie to the police,” the prosecution insisted.

She also questioned the attack on Mr Coleiro's credibility from the defence, arguing that the latter had no interest in this case as proceedings against him were over.

Mr Coleiro had testified that the accused had given him the weapon, was fully aware of the plan and that the false report had been filed on his (Mr Coleiro's) advice. 

These claims were, however, refuted by defence lawyer Michael Sciriha during his final address which started this afternoon, when he said that Mr Coleiro wanted to “pay back” his client and had “ulterior motives”. He noted that prior to this case Mr Coleiro already had nine convictions and urged jurors not to be misled by his testimony.

Dr Sciriha argued that his client was reluctant to spill the beans about the case as he was afraid for his family’s safety. The defence also questioned the credibility of Mr Coleiro’s claim that he committed the crime because he owed the accused €200.

The trial continues tomorrow.