A man who initially denied charges of assaulting a policeman who tried to give him a ticket, tearfully recanted and admitted to the charges on Thursday after being denied bail.

Greek national Theodoros Vrakas was arraigned before Magistrate Gabriella Vella, over a spat he had with a police officer on Wednesday.

Police Inspector Roderick Attard told the court that St Julian’s police had received a call about a white van that was parked irregularly, obstructing traffic. A police sergeant was dispatched and found Vrakas in the van. When he attempted to issue him a ticket an argument broke out.

Attard said that while the incident was captured on CCTV, it was unclear whether Vrakas had punched the officer in the face or pushed him away aggressively. He was subsequently arrested.

When asked how he was pleading to the charges, Vrakas’ legal aid lawyer, Brandon Kirk Muscat, entered a guilty plea. But protestations from the accused, who claimed that he had never been arrested and was not guilty, caused concern from the court, which asked him to be sure. “Are you sure he’s pleading guilty?” Magistrate Vella asked. “I cannot ignore what is happening right in front of me,” she said when Muscat told her the client had earlier informed him he intended to admit.

Vrakas was given time to reconsider and consult with his lawyer, with the pair returning to the courtroom to plead not guilty.

The prosecution objected to a request for bail, citing chiefly that the area where the altercation occurred was too close to Vrakas’ place of work and that some of his workmates had witnessed the incident. This Attard said, posed a manifest risk of tampering with evidence.

The defence rebutted that these risks were not tangible and could be sufficiently curtailed by the court imposing restrictions on the accused. Should he be remanded in custody, it would severely impact his ability to work, the lawyer said.

The court agreed that the risk of tampering with civilian witnesses was credible and denied the request for bail.

This, however, did not sit well with the accused, who, as he was being handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom, became visibly upset as he tried to reason with both Attard and his lawyer.

As the court continued to hear other cases, Vrakas could be heard sobbing outside the courtroom as the two men tried to placate him.

Sometime later, the inspector and the defence lawyer reappeared before the magistrate and asked if it would be possible to reopen the case, as Vrakas had decided to plead guilty.

In between her other cases, Magistrate Vella acceded to the request and annulled the minutes. This time, she found Vrakas guilty on his own admission. Considering his clean conduct and his early admission, Vrakas was sentenced to a one-year jail term suspended for two years and fined €1,000 to be paid in four instalments.