Man charged with robbing two construction sites in eight days

A man accused of stealing tools from a construction site has been denied bail, after a court noted that this was the third time he was being accused of the same crime.

29-year-old Roderick Grima of Marsascala appeared before magistrate Josette Demicoli this morning, charged with two counts of attempted theft, breaching two sets of bail conditions and relapsing. Inspector Elliot Magro accused Grima, who is understood to have a substance abuse problem, of attempting the crimes on 14 and 22 May, at construction sites in Santa Venera and Hamrun.

Inspector Magro explained how the police had received a report of an intruder who was found inside an unfinished residence in Hamrun on 22 May. The caller, a workman who had been looking for a missing water pump, had found Grima next to the item, which had been moved to a different part of the site. He restrained the man until the police arrived.

The pump was worth around €300, the inspector said. “The owner said that the man had probably heard him coming in and had tried to hide under the stairwell.”

Grima was found on the floor, with the pump in his hands, said the inspector. He could not confirm having been told that Grima had been asleep. The accused had told the police that he had asked a workman to let him use the toilet at the site a week before.

On 14 May, the same accused had been caught by a construction site manager, while trying to steal equipment, the inspector said. “Eight days later he is caught stealing from another construction site.”

“I've been trying to help the accused for 18 months, I went out of my way to help him,” the inspector told the court, adding that the man's claims of being homeless notwithstanding, he actually lived with his mother. “He had asked us to pick up some things from his mother's house and all his belongings were there, so he isn't homeless.”

Defence lawyer Leontine Calleja suggested that the man had been drunk and fell asleep at the scene. Cross-examined by defence, the inspector added that Grima had been thrown out of his parents' house after an argument with his father.

Every time he is caught, he promises not to do it again, but doesn't keep his word, the inspector said.

Grima pleaded not guilty to the charges in a voice so hoarse that his words were barely understandable.

The Court refused the defence's request for bail, however, saying the man was untrustworthy and did not offer sufficient guarantees that he would appear for court sittings. The court made a recommendation to the director of Corradino Correctional Facility to provide the accused with the assistance he required to overcome his drug and alcohol addictions.