A man who had claimed that the accused in a murder trial had bragged to him he had carried out the crime admitted this morning he had been involved in a hold-up himself.

Justin Fenech, from Qormi, was 17 when bank messenger Alphonse Ferriggi, 42, had been murdered.

Mr Ferriggi had been killed by a single shot to the head when delivering mail the robbers thought was cash.

CCTV footage had shown him stopping in front of the bank driving a white Peugeot station wagon and then opening the luggage boot.

The footage had also shown a black golf pulling up alongside the car and Mr Ferriggi is seen lying on the floor three seconds later.

At the time of the crime, Mr Fenech had said that the accused, Richard Grech, 44, of Qormi, known as Iz-Zinanna had confessed to him. He had also claimed that following the confession, which he had claimed had been made when both he and the accused were drunk, he stopped meeting Mr Grech because he was not the type of person to commit such crimes.

But during cross examination today, Mr Fenech admitted he had been involved in a hold-up himself but shrugged his involvement off as child's play.

Lawyer Mark Vassallo pointed out that while in 2003 Mr Fenech had told a court that when the accused had confessed to him they were both drunk, he was now claiming this had not been the case.

The case continues.