Jury retires to reach verdict in bank robbery trial

The jury in the trial of George Xuereb has retired to deliberate on its verdict today.

Xuereb, 49, from Marsa, is accused of taking part in the foiled hold-up on the Mid-Med Bank St Andrew's branch in March 1996, together with the attempted murder of two police officers in the ensuing shootout.

In its final submissions, the prosecution had insisted that there was evidenced Xuereb was ‘undoubtedly’ involved in the failed heist pointing out that one of the convicted thieves, who was jailed for ten years, had claimed that the accused was responsible for placing the weapons inside a plastic bag.

Judge Michael Mallia spent most of the morning summing up the evidence to the jurors.

Referring to the disagreement between prosecution witnesses on the number of robbers involved in the heist, the judge said, “in this case, the facts that were presented before the AG in 2009 are the same today. Any divergences are due to the difference in opinion of the prosecuting lawyers. The bottom line is that the AG is not bound by the narrative.”

“What is important in this case is that the narrative should match with the defence’s arguments. If you, in your deliberation, reach a conclusion of guilt, this difference should not hinder your decision.”

Reminding the jury about the principles and procedure of a fair trial, he resumed the point he made in his opening speech about the statue of justice being blindfolded and holding weighing scales, scales which are “now laden with evidence.”

“Your job is to decide on the facts as presented to you. Nobody can interfere with your judgment on the facts, I can make observations, but you are absolutely sovereign in your decision on the facts.”