Would-be car radio thief gets a beating

A man who was beaten up as he allegedly tried to steal a car radio has been remanded in custody this afternoon.

Inspector Trevor Micallef arraigned unemployed Abdulhamid Saied, 39 from Libya, accusing him of attempted aggravated theft, voluntary damage and being drunk in a public place.

Inspector Micallef told magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras that initial investigations appeared to show that the accused had been discovered inside a Mercedes by its owner in Birzebbugia, as he was trying to steal its radio at around 2am this morning.

Saied appeared in court with a black eye, holding his ribs and wincing whenever he moved.

The court was told that he claimed the car’s owner had beaten him up. The police are understood to be investigating the incident.

The accused, who said he was unemployed and had no fixed address in Malta, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The inspector told the court that the man claimed to have lost his identification documents.

Lawyer Martha Mifsud, defence counsel to the accused, told the court that she would not be requesting bail at this stage.