A court in Burgas has heard that the police officers who first tested Nikola Burgazliev for alcohol and drugs after the quad bike crash in Sunny Beach did not have their body cameras on. This became clear at the hearing at Burgas Regional Court on Wednesday, 7 October.

The camera in the traffic police patrol car was not switched on either. Officers involved in the first steps face disciplinary proceedings over the body cameras. If serious violations are found, they could be dismissed from the service.

Burgazliev is on trial over the quad bike crash in August 2025, in which five people were hit. A 35-year-old woman died, and her young son survived with serious injuries.

The first test was taken hours after the crash, at the district police department in Nessebar, not at the scene. The officers who tested him are colleagues of his parents. Both parents work for the Interior Ministry.

The field test at the police station was negative. Prosecutors pressed for more tests, and the lab found tetrahydrocannabinol, the active substance in marijuana, in Burgazliev's biological samples. The gap between the two results has been disputed in the case from the start. There is no evidence that the sample was deliberately switched.

The court accepted the expert reports on Burgazliev's marijuana use about a month before the hearing. The vehicle expert report found the quad bike was in working order and that the driver did not brake before the impact.

After his arrest, Burgazliev spent the first night in a police cell. He was then taken out and slept on a sofa in the office of Ivaylo Vasilev, then head of the criminal police section at the Nessebar district police department.

Lawyers for the victims' family challenged the procedure from the outset. They asked who handled the sample, how the test was done, and why it took place at the police station rather than at the scene, in front of witnesses and cameras. In recent months, they have often spoken in public about the evidence, the actions of the authorities and the disputed points of the early investigation.

A complaint has been filed against the lawyers with the Sofia Bar Association, lawyer Georgi Radkov said. He said the reason is their media appearances and their active presence in the media.

The court is expected to question a mechanic who is said to have checked the quad bike on the day of the crash. It must also establish whether there is video footage from the site where the machine had its technical inspection.