A drunk motorist who panicked and turned upon two policemen, slightly injuring them in the process, was granted bail upon his arraignment on Tuesday.

Nicholas Obaseki, 31, a Birżebbuġa resident, was charged with assaulting and slightly injuring the two officers, one of them reportedly an assistant commissioner, insulting and threatening them, and driving without a licence or insurance cover and under the influence of drink.

He was also charged with breaching bail conditions.

Few details of the incident emerged in court. 

Defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran explained that the driver had just been involved in an accident and had suffered bruised ribs as a result of the impact, accounting for his panicked state upon being approached by the policemen.

When making submissions on bail, Dr Caruana Curran pointed out that the nature of the injuries allegedly suffered by the officers was slight and moreover no civilian witnesses were to testify, implying that the risk of tampering with evidence was minimised.

Prosecuting inspector Roderick Attard rebutted that the accused was untrustworthy given that one of the charges concerned an alleged breach of earlier bail conditions.

The court, presided over by magistrate Nadine Lia, after hearing submissions by both parties, upheld the request for bail against a deposit of €1,000, a personal guarantee of €10,000, an order to sign the bail book and to abide by a curfew.