Bashir Abulahi Ahmed, a 21-year-old Somali who is currently residing in Malta was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years after admitting to stealing €40, a mobile phone, credit cards and other personal documents from Romanian born Bogdan-Marius Caimaru.

Another 32-year-old Somali, Abdulahi Mohamed Adow, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was remanded in custody. He was alo charged with committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended jail term and while on bail due to a pending separate case.

It was Police Sergeant Andrew St John who spotted a number of Somalis going through the pockets of the Romanian while he was having a nap on a Paceville bench.

On seeing the officer, the four men ran off. The police sergeant got hold of one of the Somalis and handcuffed him to the bull bar of a parked car in the vicinity, only to take off and chase the rest. Two Somalis out of the four managed to get away.