Yorgen Fenech told the jury on Friday that Keith Schembri was the person who drew him into dealings with Melvin Theuma after Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, including passing on warnings about police investigations.

Taking the witness stand in his own defence after the judge dismissed a call from the defence for the jury's dissolution (see separate story), Fenech spent much of the afternoon explaining his relationship with Schembri, his dealings with Theuma and the circumstances which, according to his testimony, left him caught between the two men.

He repeatedly denied ordering or having any role in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and sought to place responsibility for a series of crucial events on others, particularly Theuma and Schembri.

At one point, Fenech became visibly emotional as he described the effect the events had on his life, telling the jury that his drug use had been an attempt to numb what he described as an unbearable reality.

"I made a mistake. I made a mistake," he said while sobbing.

Fenech, 44, began his testimony by giving the jury an account of his upbringing in Santa Lucija and his career in the family business. He said he joined the business at 18, initially working with his uncle Ray before moving into the gaming division of the Tumas Group.

His father's death in December 2014 forced him to take on greater responsibilities. Fenech said his relationship with Schembri became considerably closer during the difficult period surrounding his father's illness and death.

He recalled donating a kidney to his father in 2000 and said his father was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. Schembri, he testified, became an important source of support, visiting him regularly.

Fenech said he came to regard Schembri almost as a brother.

Their relationship had begun much earlier, he said. Schembri had lived opposite his family in Santa Lucija and was seven years older. As a child, Fenech played football with him, while later they encountered each other in Paceville.

Fenech said the relationship developed further in 2008, when Joseph Muscat became Labour leader and Fenech's father attended his inauguration.

"Keith was there. We recognised each other and got to talking," Fenech recalled.

Schembri, he said, wanted to introduce Muscat to people in the business community, and from then onwards the two men became increasingly close.

"We met regularly, we went abroad together, we spoke every day," Fenech testified.

He also described their business relationship, saying that in 2013 they became involved in discussions concerning a consortium proposing a gas-to-energy power station. Fenech's father decided that he should oversee the project, and following his father's death Fenech became CEO while his uncle became chairman.

Fenech later described the relationship between Schembri and himself in increasingly personal terms, explaining that he had looked up to Schembri and that Schembri had helped him through difficult periods.

It was against this background, he said, that Schembri began asking him to pass messages to Theuma.

Theuma was someone Fenech had known for years through the Marsa race track, where Fenech went with his father to watch horse racing. Theuma worked as a bookmaker.

Fenech said their relationship became more significant over time, including after Theuma obtained a taxi stand at Portomaso and later secured a government job.

Fenech told the court that Schembri contacted him and asked him to tell Theuma that Castille's customer care department was trying to reach him. Fenech passed on the message.

Theuma subsequently asked Fenech which entrance he should use to enter Castille. Fenech said he checked with Schembri, who told him that Theuma could use the main entrance.

A few days later, Theuma called Fenech sounding delighted because, according to Fenech, Schembri had secured him a job.

Fenech then moved to the period immediately after Caruana Galizia's assassination in October 2017, which he described as the point when his involvement in the events surrounding Theuma intensified.

Toward the end of November, he said, Schembri came to his house and asked him for a favour that made his "heart sink".

Schembri allegedly instructed him to tell Theuma that police were closing in on the group of suspects operating from the Marsa potato shed.

Fenech said he initially passed on the message, but Theuma dismissed it, saying it was normal for police to arrest people and release them within 48 hours.

Fenech said he returned to Theuma with the additional information and warned him that arrests were scheduled for December 4.

Fenech also described the lunch at his family's Żebbuġ ranch attended by Schembri and Theuma.

He said Schembri had been spending considerable time at the ranch after receiving worrying medical news. Fenech recalled that he had previously helped Schembri obtain medical treatment abroad, travelling with him and Dr Adrian Vella to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in October 2016.

At the lamb lunch, the subject of Caruana Galizia arose. Fenech said Schembri was particularly upset by a report she had published concerning his illness.

According to Fenech, Schembri was almost fixated on Caruana Galizia, frequently reading her posts and keeping a physical file containing her articles.

The journalist's report about Schembri's illness had caused him considerable distress, Fenech said, because Schembri had not yet told his mother or children about his condition.

Theuma was also present.

Fenech testified that Theuma made comments about Caruana Galizia, including that she would "reap what she sows".

Fenech said that while he was in the kitchen, Theuma approached him and suggested: "We can easily get rid of her."

Fenech said he regarded the comment as excessive and played it down, offering Theuma a drink before going outside to smoke.

He firmly denied Theuma's claim that he had personally commissioned the murder.

Asked by defence lawyer Giannella de Marco about Theuma's previous testimony that the two men had met outside the Blue Elephant restaurant, where Fenech allegedly commissioned the killing, Fenech said the account was fabricated.

He pointed to evidence that he had been abroad with his family at the time Theuma claimed the murder had been ordered.

"I never ordered Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, or anyone else's. I had no role in her murder," Fenech told the jury.

Fenech also disputed Theuma's account of an earlier meeting, saying that the Blue Elephant did not open for lunch and that he had never heard of George Degiorgio until the latter was arrested in December 2017.

The defence then questioned Fenech about his awareness that Theuma was secretly recording him.

Fenech acknowledged that in one recording he appeared to know that he was being recorded. He said this awareness arose around the time Vince Muscat began speaking to police and Schembri sent Kenneth Camilleri to meet Theuma.

Fenech said there had been discussions about arranging bail for the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, and that Theuma claimed Schembri had promised to provide €1 million.

He testified that by April 2018, Theuma had become increasingly difficult to manage. He said Theuma would park outside his office in a panic and threaten to go to places including the Office of the Prime Minister.

Fenech said Schembri instructed him to tell Theuma that one of the suspected hitmen was speaking to lead investigator Keith Arnaud.

According to Fenech, Theuma reacted furiously, accusing him of betrayal and becoming convinced that Fenech was working together with Schembri.

Fenech said he had agreed to relay the messages out of a misguided sense of loyalty to Schembri, who had supported him during his father's illness.

He acknowledged that he knew he had "messed up" and had found himself between a rock and a hard place.

He said the stress eventually contributed to his drug addiction.

Fenech told the jury that he had undergone therapy and twice attended rehabilitation in Britain but relapsed after returning to Malta. He also acknowledged that he sometimes bought drugs directly from Theuma.

The defence then turned to Theuma's 2018 letter, in which Fenech's name appeared in connection with the murder.

Fenech said he had known Theuma was recording him but had not realised that Theuma intended to implicate him in the murder.

He said he was deeply upset when he discovered this and attempted to calm Theuma down by offering him friendship and money.

He subsequently became involved in discussions concerning bail for the Degiorgios.

Fenech said Theuma told him bail would cost €60,000. He gave Theuma the money and informed Schembri.

Schembri later sent his driver with a Reebok bag containing €75,000, Fenech testified.

Fenech said Theuma subsequently became increasingly aggressive in his demands for money and, in October 2018, visited his office in a blind rage, saying he was fed up with being played.

Fenech also testified that he had informed Schembri about secret recordings made by Theuma. Theuma, he said, had handed over his government job contract together with a USB containing recordings, some of which featured Schembri's voice.

Fenech said Schembri listened to the recordings on at least two occasions - once using the USB Fenech had provided and again when the recordings were played to him by the police commissioner.

Fenech recalled Schembri being shocked and "going cold" when he learned about the recordings in October 2018.

The testimony then turned to the events immediately preceding Fenech's arrest.

Fenech said Theuma was arrested shortly before him. He testified that Dr Adrian Vella, his family doctor since childhood, called him on speakerphone with Schembri present before coming directly to his home.

According to Fenech, Vella told his wife that he needed to take Fenech away because the media was about to publish a story about him.

Fenech said he quickly packed a bag, left his phone and money behind and drove towards Gozo with Vella.

On the way, Vella allegedly told him that he had spoken with Schembri and that they believed it would be best for Fenech to disappear for a while.

Fenech said he immediately understood what was happening because Theuma had been arrested the previous day.

Vella told him that a boat had been arranged to take him to Tunis, but Fenech said he refused to leave.

Fenech said Vella gave him a mobile phone and some Ativan and told him that he would remain alone and quiet in Gozo before Vella returned the following day with Fenech's brother.

The next day, Vella returned with Fenech's brother and his passport. Fenech said he was told he could leave if he wished.

He said that by that evening, paranoia had taken hold, fuelled by his drug use and his state of mind.

He wondered why he had been isolated at a farmhouse and eventually called his brother, instructing him to collect him the following morning without telling anyone.

Fenech also addressed Electrogas and 17 Black.

He said data had been stolen from the Electrogas consortium rather than leaked, and that the company's chief operating officer Catherine Halpin had informed him of the theft in 2017.

He said the matter was reported to police and that lawyers had warned the stolen material contained sensitive banking and client information.

Fenech said a magisterial inquiry into the matter remained ongoing.

He confirmed that he solely owned 17 Black and insisted that the company had no connection to Electrogas. He said he established it in the United Arab Emirates because he intended to conduct business there and maintained it was never intended to be a secret company.

He also described Electrogas as a consortium divided into three equal 33% stakes between Siemens, Socar and the Maltese consortium comprising the Fenech, Gasan and Apap Bologna families.

His testimony continues today.