Bail not requested as man charged with thefts from parked cars pleads not guilty

One man has been charged, with more arrests expected, following a police investigation into recent thefts from cars in Marsa and Qormi.

In an arraignment before magistrate Victor Axiak on Wednesday afternoon, Police Inspectors Andy Rotin and Mark Cremona accused 42-year-old Abdulhamid Saied of having broken into two cars in Marsa on 30 and 31 August, stealing cash and electronics from them. He was also accused of recidivism.

Saied, a Libyan national who the police said was currently homeless, told the court that he used to work as a plasterer, but was currently unemployed. Answering the registrar’s questions to establish his identity, he told the court that he did not know if his parents were alive or dead and had not seen them in ten years.

The man was charged with two counts of aggravated theft and trespassing.

His lawyer, Victor Bugeja, informed the court that the man would be pleading not guilty to the charges. “Just to be clear, I don’t remember,” chimed in the accused.

Inspector Mark Cremona explained what had led to the man’s arrest, telling the court that the police had been investigating a rash of thefts from cars and had identified a number of individuals, one of them being the accused.

A warrant for his arrest was issued and he was taken into custody. Saied did not reply to questions during interrogation, added the inspector, exhibiting CCTV images which, he said, show the accused committing the crimes.

Bail was not requested at this stage and Saied was remanded in custody.