A man accused of being an accomplice in the theft of a police motorbike on New Year's Eve was today granted bail after pleading not guilty to the charges brought against him. 

Yulian Angelov Dimitrov, a 25-year-old tile-layer, was allegedly stopped by traffic police in a roadblock at around 9.30pm last Saturday. He and two other men he was with reportedly fled the scene, with two police officers hot on their heels.

The prosecution explained how police managed to catch up with the men on Xintill Road, Tarxien. Just as the two officers were rounding up two of the fugitives, the third man made off with a police BMW motorbike.

As one of the policemen gave chase, the other officer managed to hold on to the accused who forcefully resisted the arrest. The other man managed to escape police custody and is still on the loose. The stolen motorcycle was later found abandoned by the police.

Mr Dimitrov was charged before magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona with having been an accomplice to the aggravated theft of the police vehicle, with having violently resisted the arrest, with having disobeyed police orders as well as with having been found in possession of cocaine and cannabis at the time of his arrest.

He was also accused of having strongly refused to disclose his true personal details under police questioning, agreeing to cooperate only when confronted with information traced via fingerprint records.

The accused, of Bulgarian nationality, was assisted during the hearing by a Serbian interpreter. The court acceded to the accused's request for bail upon strict orders for the man to observe all bail conditions. Failure to observe any of the conditions would signify the forfeiture of the €5,000 personal guarantee imposed by the court.

Inspector Pierguido Saliba prosecuted. Lawyer Henry Antoncich was defence counsel.