Two men accused of helping illegal immigrants flee from Malta after escaping from police detention this afternoon denied any connection with the case and claimed they were being framed.

Hotel owner Phillip Azzopardi, 67, of Birkirkara and company director Joseph Vella, 54, of Victoria, are pleading not guilty to trafficking illegal immigrants and harbouring criminals, assisting in their escape and providing the means of their escape from Malta.

Testifying in a trial by jury, Mr Vella said that he had graduated from the technical institute, was self-employed and had a farm in Marsalforn. He had other businesses including the restoration of farmhouses, a car rental firm with 16 cars and Crystal Palace - a wedding hall - Marsalforn Guesthouse and various blocks of flats.

He never had any speedboats.

He said that he had had personal problems and a private investigator whom he had hired found out that his wife was seeing another man.

He had spoken to him, telling him that he knew everything, and, Mr Vella said, he was threatened. He suspected he might be involved in the charges filed against him.

Mr Vella said he had confronted his wife and she then drove a car into the bar of the guesthouse, causing considerable damage.

In another incident she filed a police report claiming that he had tampered with the brakes of her car. It later resulted that it was a lie.

Mr Vella said he only knew Mr Azzopardi because they had been arraigned together and he did not know why he had actually been arraigned.

Anyone in Gozo could say that whenever he had a problem, he tried to solve it, but he never had a problem with the law, Mr Vella said.

Phillip Azzopardi also denied any involvement in the case and said that migrants who had linked him to it were not saying the truth.

Mr Azzopardi said he had started a business renting out gaming machines and now had a company importing food and employing 20 people full time and six part-time workers. His gaming machine business was still running.

He also had two bumping car pavilions in Bugibba.

He said he employed a number of migrants to work in the bumping cars business.

Mr Azzopardi also said that he first met Mr Vella during the arraignments and he was shocked when he learnt of the charges against him. He complained about the police interpreter and said the migrants were saying what others wanted them to say.

During cross examination, while Mr Azzopardi insisted that he did not know the migrants who had spoken to the police, the prosecution pointed out that their evidence had been very specific.