Fabio Psaila, the fugitive the police had hunted for about a month back in 2010 before he turned himself in, has been granted bail against a deposit of €5,000, and a personal guarantee of €10,000.

Mr Psaila is pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of two policemen and the attempted theft on a jeweller and his son in Attard, among a series of other charges.

Police sergeant Stephen Bezzina said he had been instructed to look for Mr Psaila when he was still on the run. About 16 searches were carried in two to three weeks, including at Mr Psaila's girlfriend flat in Birzebbuga.

Defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi requested bail and cited European judgments to insist he had a right to bail.

The lawyer noted there was no reason for his client not to be given bail, especially considering he had already spent 19 months in jail.

Dr Azzopardi said PC99 Mario Portelli, who had testified against his client, was not credible, and if one looked at the judgment handed down in the case of Romeo Bone, the same witness was not deemed credible by the magistrate.

If one looked at Mr Psaila's criminal record, one would see that most of his convictions were related to failure to pay child support.

Dr Azzopardi asked why his client was being discriminated against when other well-known criminals, who had far worse pending cases, were on bail.

The case continues.