Libyan former militant jailed for shoplifting in Gozo

34-year-old Munir Mohammed Ali Gammudi, of St. Paul's Bay, admit to shoplifting a number of items from shops in Victoria on 22 February

A Gozo court has sentenced a former militant, who fought on the pro-Ghaddafi side in Libya, to prison after he pleaded guilty to shoplifting.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud had heard 34-year-old Munir Mohammed Ali Gammudi, of St. Paul's Bay, admit to shoplifting a number of items from shops in Victoria on 22 February. The objects stolen included items of clothing from two shops, each worth under €233, and a pair of flip-flops from a service station.

The Libyan was also charged with trespassing into a private residence in Kercem, assaulting its three owners and threatening them with a knife.

Gammudi was further charged with of breaching the bail conditions he had been under at the time. In view of this fact, prosecuting police inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri requested the court order the accused forfeit his personal guarantee of €5,000 and find him guilty of relapsing, and committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended sentence.

However, the charges related to trespassing and threats were dropped after the victims retracted their criminal complaint against him.

Magistrate Mifsud, presiding over the Gozo Court, had noted that the man had been traumatised by the inhuman treatment which he had suffered after being captured by the rebels before making his way to Malta to claim asylum.

Whilst deciding against confiscating his personal guarantee, the court brought his suspended sentence into effect, adding three months to it for the breach of bail conditions. Gammudi was handed a 33-month custodial sentence by the court, which ordered that he serve his time at Mount Carmel Hospital, where he would receive psychological treatment.