A man accused of an attempted robbery at the Mid-Med Bank St Andrew's branch this evening denied his involvement in the case, insisting that he had never met and did not know any of the other men.

As he chose to testify during his trial by jury, George Xuereb, 49, from Marsa, blamed his former wife for the way he was involved in the case.

He said his mobile phone had vanished, as had the key to the house were Carmelo Spiteri, convicted of the robbery, was found a month after the robbery.

The plastic bag with his fingerprint was taken from the house to which he had the key.

This was the explanation he gave jurors as he tried convincing them that he had nothing to do with the crime.

He said the first time he had heard of the case was when former Police Commissioner John Rizzo called him about it.

He alleged that he had never been given any warnings by the police and that Mr Rizzo had told him: "I will crucify you like Christ."

Mr Xuereb said he was questioned by a crowd of some 20 policemen, including then Police Commissioner George Grech.

Most of his testimony was taken up by a recount of the problems he was having with his then wife, Carmen Moran, who someone told him had been seen with Amadeo Brincat.

"I spent 10 months and a week in preventive custody and I had a lot of time to think. When I see how my mobile had vanished and ended up at Mr Spiteri's property, how the key to the Qormi house vanished from my bunch and how the plastic bag had my fingerprints, all form part of the jigsaw puzzle," he said.

"I have passed through martyrdom for 18 years because I was never involved. This is a moment I have waiting for all this time (to clear my name)," he said.

Mr Spiteri, who served 10 years in jail for the attempted robbery,gave his testimony this morning. He gave details of the plan and what happened during the robbery and always spoke about three men and never mentioned Mr Xuereb.

He told the jury that he was the mastermind behind the robbery.

"It was my idea. Amadeo Brincat (now dead) and I met a fortnight before and went to a house in Qormi where we placed the weapons and balaclavas. He said it was a residence of someone called Carmen. The weapons were both his. There was a shotgun and if I am not mistaken there was a revolver too," Mr Spiteri said.

Mr Spiteri said he had planned the heist with Joseph Polidano, who also served 10 years in jail over the attempted robbery.

When shown the weapons, he said he did not recognise them.

He explained that they met in Zabbar, drove to Swieqi in a stolen white Golf with the weapons and balaclavas in plastic bags and jumped into a stolen white van that was already parked in the vicinity of the bank.

Mr Spiteri, who at the time was 52 years old, said Amadeo Brincat and Joseph Polidano were first to run into the bank and he followed them. He was not carrying any weapons.

"Amadeo hit the policeman with the shotgun and I took his service weapon. After some time one of us, probably Polidano, said the bank was surrounded (by police). We decided to abandon the plan and run out of the bank. When I got to the main door, Amadeo was already in the van. There was Polidano right outside the door, he was on the ground and was losing a lot of blood. I helped him into the van and we drove off," he said.

He said Mr Brincat drove the van in the direction of Paceville. When they got to Wembley Garage, they dropped off Mr Polidano who was losing a lot of blood and fled in Mr Brincat's maroon Daewoo which he (Mr Brincat) had parked there.

They drove to the Qormi residence where he lived for more than a month "to get away from the police and hide the evidence".

He insisted that he was not hit by any bullets in a shootout with the police and also denied firing any shots. He said all he had on his leg was "a scratch".

However, court expert Mario Scerri told jurors that an Xray and CT scan carried out almost two months after the crime revealed that Mr Spiteri had been hit by a bullet, which even fractured the small bone of his shin.

Dr Scerri explained that flower and butterfly tattoos were "home-made and seemed fresh when compared to other tattoos he had". The flower was covering the bullet's entry point while the butterfly was covering the exit wound.

The tattoos were done between five and 10 days before the examination, he said, as he explained that Mr Spiteri at first refused any x-rays and could not even walk because of the pain he was in.

Fingerprints expert Joseph Mallia, who at the time was in the police forensic section, said that in May 2007 he was asked to compare fingerprints lifted from the scene to Mr Xuereb's fingerprints.

He said some prints were not suitable for comparison while others did not match his fingerprints. The fingerprints found in the Golf did not match those of the accused while those found on a white plastic bag found inside the abandoned van matched Mr Xuereb's middle finger.

Former Police Commissioner John Rizzo, who in 1996 was an inspector, said the accused had the key to the house in Qormi where convicted robber Carmelo Spiteri was found.

He said that as investigations began, they eventually found Mr Spiteri in a Qormi house and when they questioned who had the key to this place, they found that Mr Xuereb had the key as the place belonged to his uncle.

It originally belonged to an elderly woman and this passed on to Mr Xuereb's grandmother who, when she died, handed it down to her 10 children. His uncle, Leli, said he had given the key to his nephew.

Mr Rizzo said that when he was informed of the robbery, he was coordinating the closure of roads when heard, via radio, that the robbers had fled. When he arrived at the branch, he found people in a panic and under shock. Police officers on site told him that the robbers opened fire and they fired back and hot on of them as he was limping.

Under cross examination, Mr Rizzo said he knew the accused was married to Carmen Moran, the daughter of former Labour Minister Censu Moran, and he knew also they had matrimonial problems.

He also said he could not remember that bank employees and even the policemen who were close by said they all saw three people. What he remembered, however, that Mr Polidano mentioned five.

Mr Rizzo also could not explain how he had told the court about a positive fingerprint match in 2005 when the matching had not been done before 2008. He said he had been basing on information he had received.