One of the men accused of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia has filed an urgent application seeking to block the start of his trial by jury over his alleged involvement in a bank heist eight years ago.

Vincent Muscat is one of the three men currently facing a compilation of evidence over the car bomb attack which claimed the life of the journalist last October.

His trial by jury for the HSBC 2010 bank robbery, is scheduled to kick off on June 18.

It was lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, on behalf of Mr Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, who filed a “very urgent” request before the First Hall, Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction just days ago, arguing that the negative pre-trial publicity regarding his client’s alleged involvement in the Caruana Galizia murder would prejudice potential jurors in the trial.

On Tuesday, the case was heard in an urgent sitting before Madam Justice Jacqueline Padovani Grima who observed that the court understood the “considerable demands” on the legal timeframe in which this case was to be decided.

For the purpose of allowing sufficient time for either party to appeal, the court declared that it would be wise to decide upon all pleas in one single pronouncement.

The court decreed that the applicant was to exhibit all his evidence in one sitting, set for Friday, while the Attorney General would present all his evidence the following week, before the court would proceed to deliver judgment.