For the prosecution there is no doubt a Marsa man was involved in an attempted robbery 18 years ago but the defence insists absolutely nothing linked him to the failed heist.

Jurors were presented with opposing theses as George Xuereb’s week-long trial draws to a close.

He is accused with involvement in the foiled hold up at the former Mid-Med Bank branch St Andrew’s in March 1996 and with the attempted murder of two policemen in a shootout.

Lawyer Lara Lanfranco, from the Attorney General’s office, said it was interesting that Joseph Polidano, who had been convicted over the crime, insisted that Mr Xuereb formed part of the gang that carried out the robbery.

By no stretch of the imagination is there enough evidence which proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that my client was involved in this case

She wondered what interest Mr Polidano would have, as a person who already admitted his guilt, was sentenced and had served his time in jail, to implicate other people. Mr Polidano did not embellish the story but simply admitted to the crime and gave details of the role played by others, she added.

Dr Lanfranco said that, according to Mr Polidano, Mr Xuereb was responsible for the weapons that were in a plastic bag. Coincidentally, she said, Mr Xuereb’s fingerprint was found on the same plastic bag.

Even though another member of the gang, Carmelo Spiteri, told jurors he was the “mastermind” behind the crime and that he only saw Mr Xuereb after the failed robbery, Dr Lanfranco said Mr Polidano’s version was more credible.

Defence lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami based his argument on what Mr Spiteri told jurors earlier this week, that three robbers had carried out the hold up.

He said there was a conflict between the versions given by the four prosecuting officers who investigated the case in 1996. All said they investigated a case involving three robbers but only former Police Commissioner John Rizzo mentioned five, on the basis of information he had but was “ashamed” to say where the information came from.

“Most of the evidence we heard here was favourable to the accused. All we heard that was incriminating was about the mobile, the key to the house in Qormi where convict Carmelo Spiteri was found and the fingerprints on the plastic bag found in the getaway car. But even here, there is an explanation,” he said.

The mobile phone found in Mr Spiteri’s possession and the fact that he had the key to the house did not place the accused inside the bank committing a robbery, he argued. The plastic bag was taken from the house before the crime, so it was possible that Mr Xuereb had touched it sometime before.

He insisted there was insufficient evidence to connect Mr Xuereb to the attempted robbery. “By no stretch of the imagination is there enough evidence which proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that my client was involved in this case.”

Reacting to the defence lawyer’s insistence that witnesses, including the bank employees, had said there were three robbers, Dr Lanfranco said these were terrified and most of them were lying face down on the ground so they could not see what was going on or how many people there were.

“People were face down on the ground, covering their faces.

“This all happened in the space of two-and-a-half minutes of commotion. They were shocked. There was fear and adrenaline pumping through them,” Dr Lanfranco said.

The trial continues today when Dr Fenech Adami is expected to address jurors for the last time before Mr Justice Michael Mallia sums up the trial and jurors would then retire to deliberate unless they ask to hear a witness again.