Last updated at 6.03pm

A statement by the former manager of the Mid-Med Bank Branch in Swieqi was read out in court this afternoon as jurors continued to hear evidence against George Xuereb, an alleged member of a gang whose hold-up of the bank was foiled by the police in March 1996.

Joseph Sapiano in his statement had said that he had heard a commotion and then one of the gang members burst into his office, held a pistol to his head and threatened to kill him. He also demanded the keys to the vault, but Mr Sapiano said he did not have them.

The robber started to swear at him and the manager called Joanna Camilleri, a member of staff who normally had the key.

When she did not turn up, Mr Sapiano said he was thrown to the floor and warned that he would be killed. He fainted, and by the time he recovered, the hold-up was over.

Earlier in testimony today, jurors heard a  former mobile squad police constable recount the dramatic moment when one of the robbers fired at him point-blank as two officers foiled the hold-up.

Edward Falzon said that on March 27, 1996, he was on duty and driving a mobile squad car. Their allocated area was Sliema and, that day, someone had drawn their attention that one of their tyres was low.

His colleague Emmanuel Cilia suggested stopping at a petrol station in Swieqi  because it was closer than goin to police headquarters. After getting the go-ahead from their superiors, they went to St Andrews and parked the car facing away from the bank. His colleague got out and started walking down. He quickly came back, saying “there is a problem”.

Mr Falzon immediately informed police headquarters that a hold-up was taking place at the bank. He positioned himself at the corner of a low wall next to the bank.

He saw a white van, which was empty. “All of a sudden three armed, hooded people came running out of the bank – one stopped to stare at me and fired a shot”.

“I saw a flash coming out of the gun – thank God it was a revolver and not a shotgun,” Mr Falzon said.

The shot, somehow, missed.

The officers shouted “police – freeze” but the robbers continued running. The police fired back and “on the third shot we heard a loud shout and we knew a person was injured”.

Describing the injured man as “well built,” Mr Falzon said he had to be helped into the van. They also knew they had injured another person. The van drove off from the bank at a high speed.

“We ran out of ammunition – at that time we were given six bullets each” the former officer said.

The officers ran back to their car to give chase. The robbers' van hit a rental car driven by tourists next to the traffic lights but kept on going. So did the police chase.

They drove straight through the tunnels but when they arrived at the Kappara roundabout they could see the van any more and turned back to the crime scene.

Mr Falzon said the robber who fired point blank looked directly at him. “His eyes were very cold – he fired and we retaliated and fired back”.

He insisted that the robbers fired the first shot. “Jesus loved me twice that day – first when a robber got confused and dropped his shotgun on the ground…he was close to me. The second was when he fired at me but my time had not yet come,” Mr Falzon said.

His colleague, Emmanuel Cilia, testified that when they were at the petrol station, he saw a van parked in front of the bank.

“I saw an employee on the first floor making a sign of a gun with his hands. I peeped in the windows and saw a hooded man”.

He immediately told Mr Falzon and they saw three hooded men come out. “My colleague said police – freeze”. They fired a shot and when “we heard that we responded and we heard someone shout out ‘ajma, ajma’ in pain”.

They got into the van drove off in the direction of St Julian's.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Kevin Valletta, representing the Attorney General’s office, also read out the statement of Police Constable Maurice Laferla, who was on duty during the hold-up.

Mr Laferla had testified that he was on duty at the bank on the morning of the hold-up and had closed the door after a child walked out.

Two men wearing blue boiler suits which had the initials GM and balaclavas pushed the door open, They started shouting “hold-up, hold-up - don’t move”.

They were armed with a shotgun and a revolver.

A third man entered seconds later with a sawn off shotgun. One robber went upstairs, another kept going inside while the third man stayed with him, Mr Laferla said.

“This one asked me for my gun but I was wearing my winter uniform and told him I didn’t have one”. Mr Lafarla said the robber did not believe him and shouted at him to lie down on the ground.

He remained there and the robber pushed the shotgun onto him. “I heard screams coming from inside and I heard him tell the others that the police had surrounded the place. He hit me on the head,” Mr Laferla said.

The robber took Mr Laferla’s weapon and again shouted to the others that they were surrounded.

The men left the bank and drove off in a white van with a brownish stripe across. With blood streaming down his forehead, Mr Laferla said the men started the engine when he heard shots fired.

EMPLOYEES HID IN THE BATHROOM

Derek Debattista, a bank employee said he had heard a lot of commotion. Two hooded men had surrounded Mr Laferla and they panicked. “I saw one of them clearly”.

He described the man as strong and carrying a shotgun, almost dragging Mr Laferla.

Together with his colleague Julian Consiglio, they escaped to the toilets and locked themselves in. “We were very afraid – we heard someone try the handle and I told him to move aside just in case they fired”.

Then one of my colleagues asked for a set of keys to open the vault.

Mr Consiglio also testified and said he saw two hooded men fighting with Mr Laferla. One of them was armed with a shotgun.

Modi Gafa, another colleague, went with him and Mr Debattista to hide in the toilets. “We got scared – someone started rattling the door and telling us to go out,” Mr Consiglio said.

Ms Gafa decided she was going to get the keys to the vault and give the robbers what they wanted so “no one would get hurt”. Mr Consiglio said “she has a lot of guts”.

Lawyer Lara Lanfranco is also appearing for the Attorney General’s office. Lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami is appearing for Mr Xuereb.

SECURITY CAMERA TAPE TOO OLD TO BE PLAYED

John Zammit , manger of the security department in 1997 said he was not present at the branch at the time of the hold-up.

After the incident, he said he had passed on to the police a tape with footage from security cameras outside the building. No cameras were inside the building because the management had not reached an agreement with the union.

When the court technician tried to play the tape, it was found that the technology was too old.

INJURED ROBBER CLAIMED HE WAS HIT BY A CAR

Sheila Zahra a receptionist at a hotel in St Julian's said a courier had told her a man was bleeding heavily next door. She went out and found him bleeding on the floor.

An elderly British couple called the manager. She helped the injured man onto a chair and gave him a coffee. She also tried to temporarily bandage his leg, which was bleeding.

The man told her that he was hit by a car.

The manager told her to call the police and an ambulance.

Later she found a balaclava on the ground. It looked like the sleeve of a woollen jumper with holes in it.