A man convicted over a foiled heist on a former Mid-Med Bank branch 18 years ago claimed police officers opened fire at the robbers as they were trying to escape.

Joseph Polidano, who was jailed for 10 years for the attempted robbery of the bank in St Andrew’s, told a jury that the police started shooting at the robbers, one of whom had only fired a warning shot in the air.

He was testifying in the trial by jury of George Xuereb, 49, of Marsa, known as it-Tiġieġu, who is denying the attempted theft of around Lm100,000 (€233,000) on March 27, 1996, and trying to kill two policemen.

Testifying before Mr Justice Michael Mallia, who was accompanied by Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, Mr Polidano said “they [the police] started shooting at us”.

Cross-examined by Mr Xuereb’s lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami, he insisted he was sure none of the three robbers fired at the police.

Mr Polidano claimed five men were involved in the hold-up: the other three were Amadeo Brincat, George Cutajar, known as Il-Manoċċ, and Carmelo Spiteri. In 2003, Mr Spiteri was jailed for 10 years for the attempted heist.

You are trying to play the fool here, now I’m fed up, my patience has reached its limit

The witness said Mr Brincat was the one who fired a warning shot, as he was driving the getaway van.

Dr Fenech Adami insisted on an explanation as to why all the witnesses in the bank, as well as the two police mobile squad officers who foiled the hold-up, said only three men were involved.

Mr Polidano did not give a clear answer and did not identify Mr Xuereb in the court room, saying: “If it’s him, then he has really aged”.

An angry Mr Justice Mallia told him off for his hesitant testimony and for changing his answers from his original testimony in 1997.

“You are trying to play the fool here, now I’m fed up, my patience has reached its limit,” the judge said.

His version of the attempted hold-up contrasts with the alleged facts as laid out by lawyer Lara Lanfranco, from the Attorney General’s office, who said the robbers opened fire at two mobile squad officers who had intervened after coincidentally stopping at a nearby petrol station with a deflated tyre.

The prosecution holds that Mr Xuereb was among a group of robbers who entered the bank and made Police Constable Maurice Laferla, the security officer, lie face down on the floor with a weapon pointed at him. They searched him and took his weapon.

You will not forget an incident like this – you will forget it if you are lying

Mr Polidano’s lack of recollection led lawyer Kevin Valletta to read out the testimony he had given in 1997 in court proceedings against Mr Xuereb.

According to that, five men walked into the bank. Mr Polidano spotted the police officers and warned the others. When he tried to get into the van he was shot in the leg and fell, dropping his shotgun. The others got into the van but Mr Cutajar escaped on foot.

Asked by Dr Valletta to explain what happened to Mr Spiteri, Mr Polidano kept saying “he escaped”.

Dr Fenech Adami contested his statement that five men walked into the bank, insisting only three men did so.

“You will not forget an incident like this – you will forget it if you are lying.”

Mr Justice Mallia told Mr Polidano to answer the questions put to him and told the jurors “to note his demeanour and behaviour”.

When asked what happened to the weapon they had confiscated from PC Laferla, Mr Polidano had originally said it went to Mr Xuereb but yesterday said it was Mr Cutajar.

Mr Mallia reminded Mr Polidano this was not what he had originally said. Mr Polidano said he “mixed them up” and, when pressed, said “so it was Mr Xuereb”.

According to the prosecution, the men decided to escape when they saw the officers. As they left the building, they were ordered to stop but fired at the police.

The police fired back but the men managed to enter a van parked in front of the bank.

Two of them were hit during the exchange but they managed to drive off towards Paceville.

In the rush, the vehicle was involved in a collision and it was abandoned close to where Pendergardens lies today.

Police found boiler suits, blood and plastic bags in the vehicle.

A month after the hold-up, Mr Spiteri had not returned home and was found at a residence in Qormi, which belonged to his uncle, Mr Xuereb.

Mr Xuereb’s fingerprint was found on a plastic bag in the van, the prosecution says.

The jury also heard the testimonies of former assistant commissioner Bartholomew Mula and Assistant Commissioner Stephen Gatt, an inspector at the time.

After the incident they found Mr Polidano on a parapet close to the former San Raffael Spinola Hotel in St Julian’s with blood streaming down his leg.

He refused to answer questions and the officers called an ambulance. At the hospital they saw PC Laferla, who had a gash on his forehead after being hit with the butt of a shotgun.

PC Laferla told Assistant Commissioner Gatt three men had entered the bank, two with shotguns and the other with a revolver.

The van, which had been reported stolen a few days earlier, was found round the corner from Mr Polidano’s, with a balaclava on the ground. Drops of blood led to where he was found.