Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri has given new details on his long and personal friendship with Yorgen Fenech and how it developed over the years.

“Knowing him since childhood, there was chemistry. He was easy to get along with, easy to talk to,” Schembri said as he took the witness stand in court today during the ongoing trial into the planned assassination of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Schembri explained that though they were childhood friends, he and Fenech drifted apart before eventually becoming “very close” around 2010.

“I felt comfortable letting him into my home,” he said of the man suspected of masterminding the assassination.

He also spoke about the way people reacted to Yorgen when they were together at events.

“Yorgen was a loved person, I would always see different people with him, from every social strata, business, politicians, police,” he said.

However, he said that their friendship was no longer on: “But today, Fenech and I are no longer friends,” he said.