Nizar El-Gadi told jurors yesterday that from the start of his relationship with Margaret Mifsud, her mother never accepted him because he is Libyan.

"I had faced her and told her that she did not like me because of my Libyan blood," he said, after recounting that the victim's mother could never digest the fact that her daughter was seeing him and he had got her pregnant.

"Her mother used to insist that I was taking her daughter for a ride to obtain a Maltese citizenship after I applied for refugee status and was granted this protection, but it was not the case that I was using her," Mr El-Gadi said.

The 36-year-old Libyan national was testifying during his trial over the murder of his former wife Margaret Mifsud. Dr Mifsud had been found murdered in her car in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq on the night between 18 and 19 April, 2012.

Mr El-Gadi said that when he started dating Margaret, her mother took her car away on discovering they were seeing each other.

"We continued seeing each other without showing her mother. But when Margaret got pregnant with our first child, we could not hide this from her mum any longer and we decided to tell her.

"We waited outside the St Helen church in Birkirkara to tell her that Margaret was pregnant but the minute she came out of the church and spotted me, she told Margaret off.

"Her mother started to cry and she told her why are you dating a Libyan out of all people?"

Asked by his defence lawyer Martin Testaferata Moroni Viani about the fact that his children claimed he was not good with them, Mr El-Gadi said he was shocked to hear that his children had said these words "since I always brought them gifts from Libya and gave them all they needed."

His two children had testified through videoconferencing.

On the fact that his children claimed he played rough with them, he said that he was shocked to hear them say this. "I always treated them well," he continued.

"I used to try and help them out with their homework, although I am not a person who has much schooling," he explained.

"Margaret used to tell to me have patience and that she knew I was feeling rather anxious because of her mother's attitude towards me. It was only for the sake of the children that Margaret's mother tolerated that I live with her family at her house," he said.

A month before she was found dead, Dr Mifsud had reported Mr El-Gadi to the Birkirkara police over an alleged attempted strangling incident.

On this particular incident, Mr El-Gadi denied that he tried to strangle Dr Mifsud.

When I was arrested, Inspector Elton Taliana warned me I could not approach the home where I was living with Margaret since if I did, he would have my refugee status revoked.

"He told me that nobody wanted me to go back home. I asked the inspector if there was some official document which showed I could not return back to the house.

"Inspector Taliana told me that he was advising me, as a friend, to let things calm down and after three weeks I should consult with a lawyer," he said.

After the 24 March 2012 alleged attempted strangling incident, he said he had gone to live at the Eurostar hotel in Paceville after he was ordered by police not to approach the house. He then started to work as a dishwasher nearby - at The Avenue restaurant in Paceville.

"Since the Inspector had warned me not to approach the house before at least three weeks had gone by, I went to the ballet school my children attended and waited outside each time so that I could get to see them.

"One time, I went to see the children at the school they attended - St Joseph in Sliema. I was told by a nun that she had received instructions to tell me that I could not go see my children at the school any longer.

"I had taken some Easter eggs for the children to enjoy since they are Christian. But the nun would not allow me in or hand over the Easter eggs to the children on my behalf.

"One time, I met Margaret's mother near Tower supermarket in Sliema and asked her to give the Easter eggs to the children who happened to be with her but she refused to do so," Mr El-Gadi said.

On the night of the murder, 18 April 2012, he said he saw her last before she went to eat at the Fortress Restaurant with her colleagues, just before 8pm.

"She was on her own when I met her, and we parked round the corner from her mother's house in Birkirkara so that nobody would see us together.

"I went to meet her to collect some CVs of mine which were saved on her laptop so that I could apply for a job at a restaurant. I had asked her to make some changes to the CVs such as having undergone training at ITS.

"Initially, I was meant to meet her in Valletta earlier in the day but she could not come to Valletta. So we decided to meet in the evening that same day instead.

"I had rented a car and went to meet Margaret in Birkirkara. I rented out a car because at times I used it to take Libyan nationals from the airport to Sliema against a smaller fee than that charged by taxis.

"Due to the fact that one of the children had not done her homework and she needed to help her before she went out, she never got the CVs, as she needed to print them but hadn't had the chance to do so.

"When I saw her, I told her she was looking good and I asked her where she was going and she said she was going out to eat.

"She left and I went to Paceville. I parked near Kavalieri Hotel and proceeded to Champ pastizzeria on foot," he said.

Mr El-Gadi said he met a Russian woman and he asked her to accompany him in Paceville but she said she did not like the area too much.

He went back for his car and collected her from near the bus terminus and drove towards St Paul's Bay but ended up near Empire Cinema. He went to look for the restaurant where he was meant to start working but he could not find it. "I tried calling Margaret to give me directions on how to get to the restaurant but her cell phone was off.

"I asked the Russian girl if she wanted to go see a film but she did not want to. I then gave her a lift back to the place I had picked her up from in St Julians," Mr El-Gadi continued.

He said he never asked the Russian girl for her cell phone number and did not know where she resided. 

Mr El-Gadi said that he then proceeded to Champ pastizzeria, this time to get a lighter, and proceeded to a bay in St Julian's where he met a group of Italians.

The case is set to continue on Monday.