CCTV footage recorded on a bus showed that a man accused of assaulting a bus driver did not do so in self-defence, inspectors told a court today. 

Inspectors told the court that video footage showed Omar Joseph Trabelsi being denied boarding by the bus driver. As Mr Trabelsi argued with the driver, the latter threw a piece of paper in his direction. The attack followed "a split second later" the inspector told the court.

Mr Trabelsi, 29 and from Kirkop,  stands charged with the attempted grievous bodily harm of the driver, following a fight which erupted over Mr Trabelsi's alleged attempt to board the bus using an expired bus ticket. He says he reacted in self-defence.

Prosecutors say it was not the first time the accused man tried to pull off the trick, and that the driver and Mr Trabelsi had already been involved in another argument a few days before the fight. 

READ: Denied bail on charges of having attacked a bus driver

The Kirkop man was apprehended by police after the injured bus driver had described his distinctive hairstyle to police.

Following a call from a police inspector, Mr Trabelsi turned up at the police station where he was eventually detained.

Later that same day, the suspect had escaped from custody, only to be re-apprehended near Castille after the police had given him chase through the streets of the capital.

Mr Trabelsi was today again denied bail by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, who declared that "the age of cowboys is over. Everyone who is doing his job, be it a policeman or a bus driver, must be protected.”

Lawyer Yanika Camilleri was defence counsel.