A 31-year-old man from Zebbug today was charged with causing grievous injuries to an elderly man during a robbery in Marsa.

The court presided by Magistrate Neville Camilleri heard how the man, who struggles with drug addiction, stole cash and other objects from a residence in Marsa belonging to a senior man from Marsa.

The case dates back to 29 November when the victim and accused were at a bar in Marsa. The victim asked the accused to drive him home. The accused did so but the elderly man later claimed that the accused entered his house in Marsa and stole cash and other objects. The prosecution led by Inspector Chantelle Casha also said that the accused caused grievous injuries to the victim during the robbery.

It also emerges that on that same evening, while the man was under the influence of drugs, the man tried to enter a property in Zejtun. He alleged that once there, a Syrian man apprehended him, hit him with a bat and tied him to a chair. Another Syrian national came and beat the accused who claimed that the two Syrians only stopped because they saw a photo of his son on his mobile phone.

Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili appeared for the accused. The man did not request bail and the Magistrate ordered the accused to be sent at the forensic unit at Mount Carmel Hospital.