A magistrate heard this morning how it was Police Inspector Gabriel Micallef who drove the Scotsman's car that had been hit by a policeman's bullets onto a low-loader.

Mr Micallef's sister is dating PC Paul Sheehan, the driver of former Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia. Mr Micallef has not yet been charged with tampering with evidence even though he was questioned on the matter.

This emerged from the testimony of Assistant Police Commissioner Sandro Zarb who was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Mr Sheehan who stands charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Smith after the latter clipped the miniesterial car's side mirror as it was being driven through Gzira.

An inquiry set up to investigate the shooting incident concluded that Mr Sheehan had shot two bullets at Mr Smith’s car and that there was an attempt to cover up the incident. This led to Minister Mallia's dismissal earlier this week.

Mr Sheehan is pleading not guilty to attempted murder, using violence against Mr Smith, causing voluntary damage to a vehicle, discharging a firearm in a public place and exceeding the limits of his authority as a police officer.

At the end of the sitting, Mr Sheehan was granted bail by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000.

Mr Zarb explained that on November 19, former acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit ordered him to investigate the incident and carry out a breathalyser test on Mr Smith, while gunshot residue swabs were taken.

"When I arrived at the scene, there were several police officers, the minister’s car on the side of the road and a Vauxhall on the low-loader. I noticed that there were two bullet holes lodged in the Vauxhall: one under the car’s taillights and the other just above the windscreen," Mr Zarb said.

He continued that Mr Sheehan told him that he had fired two shot so he sent two police officers to find the spent bullets but they returned empty-handed.

He said Mr Sheehan was in a state of panic and how the GM14 number plated had been removed and placed inside the car's boot. He also said that Mr Sheehan's gun has been discharged and placed in the car's glove compartment until police officers arrived.

The case continues in January.

In the meantime, Mr Sheehan was ordered to sign the bail book three times a week. The magistrate also ruled that there was enough evidence for Mr Sheehan to be indicted.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha and Edward Gatt appeared for Mr Sheehan while lawyer Joe Giglio appeared parte civile for Mr Smith.