Updated at 1.30pm

One of Daphne Caruana Galizia's alleged killers was denied bail on Monday morning, following a request by his lawyer during a court sitting earlier in the day. 

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit ruled that Vince Muscat should remain in police custody as the compilation of evidence against him and the Degiorgio brothers Alfred and George continues. 

Following a request by Mr Muscat's lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, the magistrate said that since the investigations into the murder are still active, lead investigator Inspector Keith Arnaud might have concerns over the granting of bail that he would not be at liberty to discuss in open court.  

"I believe Inspector Arnaud has many fears but he wouldn’t reveal them openly here," the court remarked while considering the bail request filed by Mr Muscat's lawyer Dr Azzopardi.

Defence lawyers for the three men accused of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia cross-examined witnesses on Monday morning, as the compilation of evidence against the men continued.

The Degiorgio brothers and Mr Muscat have spent the last 19 months in and out of court hearing the body of evidence accumulated against them by both local and foreign investigators.

Blog

9:33am: The three accused walked into court accompanied by five armed guards. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appears to have joined the defence team on behalf of Mr Muscat.  

Vince Muscat's health

9:35am: A Mater Dei Hospital doctor has been asked to testify about Vince Muscat’s health. Lawyer Dr Azzopardi filed two applications on the matter last week. The doctor provides the court with a copy of Mr Muscat's ophthalmology file.

9:38am: Another witness takes the stand - an eye consultant at Mater Dei. He tells the court that back in 2014, he had been on duty when Mr Muscat had been shot in the eye. The patient was recently prescribed steroid drops for his painful condition, and had lost sight in his right eye.  

9:41am: Some background - Vince Muscat was shot three times in the head in April 2014 in Msida. He had been accused of being involved in a failed HSBC bank heist in 2010, including the attempted murder of a policeman.

Five cross-examination requests

9:44am: Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia tells the court that over the past few days he had received five applications for cross-examination of witnesses by the defence. One of the witnesses cannot be summoned under cross-examination,however, and would have to be summoned by the defence team's William Cuschieri as a 'witness in chief'. 

'Nobody examined rental car'

9:47am: Raymond Schembri take the witness stand. Mr Schembri is representing a car leasing company. He is cross examined by Dr Cuschieri who asks him to confirm that a car in a photograph is the one leased to the three alleged killers. 

9:50am: When the police had first made contact with the company, no one had gone to examine the car, the witness says.

A suspicious car 

9:53am: Next up is Carmel Sammut, who is asked by Dr Cuschieri about a quarry close to his residence. The quarry is some 200 metres towards Mġarr, to the left of his home and close to the vantage point allegedly used by the three men. 

9:56am: He had been in touch with the police because he had noticed a car close to quarry on more than one occasion in the days leading up to Ms Caruana Galizia's murder.  On the day of the murder he had spotted a car parked there once again. He had been able to recall the letters of its licence plate.

9:58am: A Bidnija farmer takes the stand, who tells the court that owned and worked a field close to "the Galizia villa”. His field is separated from the late Ms Caruana Galizia's home by rubble wall. And, he tells the court he keeps guard dogs. 

FBI reports and German police

10:00am: Court expert Keith Cutajar is next. He had been appointed to translate technical reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation which had been used to pinpoint the mobile phone used to detonate the explosive placed under Ms Caruana Galizia's car.  

10:03am: "I did my best to retain their accuracy, retaining the documents' original format and just translating the text to Maltese," he says.  

10:09am: Dr Galea Farrugia says that defence had also asked to cross examine an official from German Federal Police. However, while this had been requested by Alfred Degiorgio’s lawyer, it was not the proper court procedure and so could not be permitted.

Bail and frozen assets

10:12am: Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit says that she had received a bail application on behalf of Mr Muscat, with Dr Azzopardi also raising an issue over Mr Muscat’s assets being hit by a freezing order.

Arnaud on the stand

10:20am: Lead investigator Keith Arnaud takes the stand. He is shown a bail decree by Madam Justice Edwina Grima and the defence team asks him to weigh in on some of the European case law cited.

At this point the deputy AG butts in to remind the court that Inspector Arnaud is not a lawyer.

10:23am: Dr Azzopardi asks Inspector Arnaud to give an opinion on whether Mr Muscat would possibly tamper with evidence if granted bail. Dr Galea Farrugia is quick to step in; “The inspector is prosecutor and investigator. Investigations are still ongoing. How can he answer questions about the trustworthiness of Mr Muscat?”

10:30am: Inspector Joseph Mercieca from the police’s Criminal Investigation Department is called to testify. He had prosecuted Mr Muscat following a 2010 HSBC hold-up attempt.

10:31am: Dr Azzopardi asks if there had ever been any issues with Mr Muscat and bail during these “lengthy” proceedings. Although the inspector says he had not had any problems, he also points out that this is a serious case, “like all homicides”, adding that a number of civilian witnesses had already testified.

10:35am: Dr Azzopardi tells the court that the prosecution's theory seemed to indicate that Mr Muscat had been involved in the murder plot as a spotter.  This, he says, seemed dubious as Mr Muscat had poor eyesight. There were no legal reasons to deny Mr Muscat bail, he says.

10:37am: The deputy AG tells the court that investigations into this case are broad and still very much active. The case also involved a serious threat to public order.  

10:40am: The court says it will decide on Mr Muscat's request for bail in chambers, pointing out that the lead investigator likely had many concerns that he could not divulge in open court.  

10:44am: Magistrate Stafrace Zammit adjourns the sitting, bringing this morning's proceedings to a close. The compilation of evidence will now continue in August.