Accomplice in police motorbike theft goes on the run again, court orders his rearrest

A judge has ordered the re-arrest of a man who was granted bail on complicity in the theft of a police motorcycle on New Year's Eve, after he skipped bail and went into hiding.

Yulian Angelov, a 25-year-old unemployed tile-layer from Bulgaria, had been chased by police after he failed to stop at a police roadblock at around 9:30pm last Saturday.

During Angelov's arraignment on 2 January, prosecuting inspector Pierguido Saliba had explained that a car carrying Angelov and two other male companions had driven through the roadblock, before stopping further down the road. The car's three occupants had split up and fled in different directions, chased by two police officers. One of Angelov's companions had then doubled-back and had stolen one of the officer's BMW motorcycle, whilst the officers had been busy detaining the two men.

This necessitated one officer to go chase the rider, leaving his colleague to detain the other men, who then violently resisted arrest. One man escaped police custody and is still on the run. The stolen police motorcycle was found minutes later, abandoned. The motorbike thief is also being sought by police.

The remaining Bulgarian was charged before magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona with complicity in the aggravated theft of the police vehicle, violently resisting the arrest, and disobeying police orders. He was also charged with possession of cocaine and cannabis.

But surprisingly, Angelov was then granted bail without needing to deposit a guarantee in court, despite the court being told that the man had refused to disclose his identity to the police and had agreed to cooperate only after being confronted with incriminating fingerprint matches.

The Attorney General had filed an appeal against the bail decree, which was upheld by Madame Justice Edwina Grima earlier today. The court was told that on the very day that he was given bail, Angelov had failed to report to the police station as ordered. Further investigation revealed that the accused no longer lived at the address he had provided the court, but rather had packed his things and fled together with his girlfriend.

The judge ordered Angelov's re-arrest. A European arrest warrant is also understood to have been issued.