A 25-year-old man from Hamrun has been arraigned in court accused of defiling a 15 year-old girl and then trying to pin the offence on someone else.

The man, who cannot be named by order of the court as he had been in a relationship with the victim, appeared in the dock before magistrate Charmaine Galea this afternoon, charged with the defilement of a minor, participating in sexual acts with a minor, fabricating evidence to have a third party falsely accused of the crimes, causing the minor to fear violence and breaching a set of bail conditions he had been handed in November on theft charges.

No details of the circumstances of the case or the man's arrest emerged in court today. 

Prosecuting police Inspectors Kylie Borg and John Spiteri told the court that the man, who works as an air conditioning technician, was also found to be in possession of cocaine and cannabis when he was arrested yesterday. He was also charged with possession of the drugs today.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer, Alfred Abela, did not request bail at this stage.

The court upheld a request for a ban on the publication of the name of the accused.