Police Sergeant Leeroy Balzan has been remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to computer misuse following a shooting incident involving a minister's driver.

He is one of two police officers suspected of tampering with evidence in the shooting case involving the Home Affairs Minister’s driver Paul Sheehan.

PS Balzan, 31, from Sliema was charged with preventing the input of data, changing, deleting or adding official data, revealing a password to give access to official files to unauthorised personnel, committing crimes damaging to the government, prejudicing his senior and committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono contested the charges and said his client was not at the police station at the times during which it was being claimed his client accessed the computers and asked for the security cameras to be checked.

The prosecution, led by Inspector Sandro Camilleri, said the cameras were being checked by the magisterial inquiry. Inspector Jesmond Micallef was also part of the prosecution. Inspector Daniel Zammit, the acting Commissioner's son, was in the courtroom.

Dr Debono requested bail but even though the prosecution did not object, Magistrate Francesco Debasquale decided that in view of the nature of the crimes the accused was being charged with and his position in the force, the request should be denied.