Melvin Theuma, the middleman in the plot to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia, revealed today that he had met the journalist once before.

Theuma was cross-examined by PN MP Jason Azzopardi, the family lawyer of the Caruana Galizia family, if he knew whether the late journalist had ever written about Yorgen Fenech, the Tumas Group businessman now charged with her murder.

Clearly emotional, Theuma said he didn’t know anything about Caruana Galizia except that several years ago he had once encountered her struggling with a flat tyre close to the Hilton Hotel. He said he had given her a lift home and didn’t charge her for the ride.

Theuma has been granted a presidential pardon in return for crucial information about the murder. He has testified that Fenech told him to put the plan in motion and that he suspects that the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri could also have been involved. However, he couldn’t confirm Schembri’s involvement under oath.