A man who drove over the foot of a policeman after he was chased in Marsa was handed a six-week prison sentence and fined €2,000. He also had his licence suspended for eight days.

Unemployed Adrian Bianchi, 38, of Qormi was charged with negligent driving, having cocaine in his possession, threatening police officers, being in possession of tools associated with break-ins, relapsing, preventing police officers from doing their duty, disobeying police orders, and slightly injuring a police officer through negligence. The amount of cocaine he had in his possession was 0.12 grammes.

In 2009, he was found guilty of involuntary homicide after a man overdosed with the drugs he sold to him. He was jailed for six years.

The incident happened on Wednesday just after midnight when members of the Rapid Intervention Unit noticed a Seat Cordoba parked in Gerrejja Street, Marsa, which raised their suspicions.

As the police approached in their car, the suspect reversed at speed towards Stalel Street. At this point, two of the three officers got out of the police car while the third tried to block the road.

The suspect then drove in the direction of the police, driving over one of the officer’s feet. The injured officer continued to give chase on foot while the other one re-entered the police car, which followed the suspect’s vehicle in Serkin, Tigrija and Manwel Dimech Street, where it was noticed that he threw a package out of the car. The package contained cocaine, it resulted.

The police said that the suspect eventually stopped and left the car, but resisted arrest when the officers approached. He was escorted to the Qormi police station, where he continued to threaten the officers. A search in his car yielded objects the police lifted to help them in their investigation.

The constable who was injured received hospital treatment for slight injuries suffered.

Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona presided over the case. Police Inspector Kylie Borg prosecuted while lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Charlon Gouder and Jonathan Attard appeared on behalf of the accused.