A man with a drug problem and a pending prison sentence, who for the past months had been on the police wanted list, was finally arrested and taken to court to face fresh charges.

Tony Armando Zahra, 41, from St Paul's Bay, today pleaded not guilty to having violently resisted arrest by assaulting two police officers, slightly injuring one of them, disobeying police orders, damaging the officer's mobile phone and breaching the peace. The accused was also charged with having violated bail conditions.

The court, presided by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, had been condemned by a magistrate's court to an effective jail term of one year and a fine of €5,000 for a previous conviction.

Although the accused had appealed the sentence, he never turned up in court for the hearings and as a result the appeal was abandoned. This meant that the accused was to serve his time in prison.

Today the prosecution explained how the accused had also been granted bail in separate proceedings by magistrate Anthony Vella in March 2014 and had later violated bail conditions by failing to sign the bail book and also to attend court sittings. This had prompted magistrate Vella to order the accused's arrest.

The court heard how, on February 12, the police managed to trace the accused at the Detox Centre at around 11am. However, as soon as two officers approached him, he reacted violently and resisted the arrest, injuring one of the officers and even damaging his mobile phone.

The prosecution explained that the man, who appeared to be rather aggressive even in court, had managed to get away by escaping through the back door of the Detox Centre in Pieta'.

A police search for the runaway finally yielded results and the man was brought to justice.

The prosecution strongly objected to the request for bail stating that the trustworthiness of the accused was 'way below zero'. The man was on the wanted list and his registered address was not his true home. Besides, the accused had a prison sentence to serve.

The court denied bail on account of the nature of the offences, the lack of credibility of the accused and the risk of tampering with evidence.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted. Lawyer Victor Bugeja was legal aid.