Richard Grech, 44 of Qormi, known as Iz-Zinnanna ,will appear before a  jury this morning accused of the murder of messenger Alphonse Ferriggi outside the Bank of Valletta branch in San Gwann, just over 11 years ago.

In connection with the same case,  Joseph Zammit, 52, was in 2009 found guilty of  being an accomplice in the murder and jailed for 30 years on appeal.

Mr Ferriggi, 42, was delivering internal bank mail when a black Volkswagen Golf drove up and a shot rang out, hitting him in the head as he stood outside the bank branch. The surveillance cameras outside the bank recorded everything except the identity of the people in the car.

Mr Zammit had admitted to being the driver of the getaway car but not the one who pulled the trigger.

In the appeal, his lawyers, Josè Herrera and David Farrugia Sacco, argued that there had been an incorrect appreciation of the evidence and that the punishment was excessive. The court, presided over by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Pace, Mr Justice David Scicluna and Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mckeon, dismissed both arguments.

The court reduced Mr Zammit's jail term by one year and six months (to 30 years) after finding that there was no proof to show he was an accomplice in the crime of illegally possessing the gun used to shoot the victim because the person who fired the gun could not be identified.