A driving examiner told a court he felt "psychologically pressured" after his boss, Clint Mansueto, stopped offering him work following his refusal to undertake tasks he did not agree with.

Testifying on Thursday, Charles Lia said that his superior had instructed him to conduct a driving test for an Italian woman with an expired ID card and to administer a test in a large vehicle with lights which were not working.

Lia was testifying in the compilation of evidence against former Transport Malta (TM) official Clint Mansueto, former Żebbuġ Labour councillor Philip Edrick Zammit and Raul Antonio Pace. In 2022, they were charged with corruption over a driving licence racket and pleaded not guilty.

Charles Lia said that he had started working as a driving examiner in 2006, stating that during Mansueto's time leading the department, he had asked him to carry out a number of jobs he did not agree with.

One of these jobs involved a driving test for the use of a heavy vehicle. The vehicle's brake lights, indicators and reverse lights were not working. When Lia refused, a driving school owner had called Mansueto, who had pressured Lia to carry out the test, but he refused.

Lia told the court that in another case Mansueto had pressured him to carry out the driving exam of an Italian woman whose ID card has expired, but had no intention to renew it. He had also refused.

He said that after his refusal, Mansueto had side-lined him, refusing to give him overtime work which he was competent to carry out.

"I think it's because I did not follow what was imposed on me," Lia told the court. "Psychologically, I was not the same. I asked for help and knocked at doors of my superior but did not get anywhere. I also went to various ministries and asked for help, then went to union to defend me. I left in 2019 to become a port worker as I could not take it anymore,"

He returned in 2023.

The defendants were represented by Joe Giglio, Arthur Azzopardi and Herman Mula.

The prosecution was led by Abigail Caruana Vella from the Attorney General's office and inspector Wayne Borg.