A man who robbed a popular local singer at knifepoint has been remanded in custody after he was arraigned in court today.      

37 year-old Munir Mohamed Ali Gammudi from Tripoli, Libya appeared in the dock before magistrate Anthony Vella this morning, charged with theft aggravated by violence, time and value of the object stolen.

He was also accused of carrying a knife during the commission of a crime against the person and relapsing.

Gammudi is accused of robbing young musician Michaela Attard and a female companion in St Julian's on Sunday night. In an emotional Facebook post, Attard described how she had been attacked whilst waiting for friends to emerge from an entertainment establishment in Paceville. “The next thing I know, a man who was accompanied by another man, abruptly pulled out a sharp jack knife and pressed it around my neck… A sharp jack knife… With his other hand pulling my handbag at the same time… He was pulling my bag and pressing his knife more and more with increasing anger and strength, shouting at us in the Libyan language”

After stealing their handbags, the men ran off and the girls gave chase, at which point Gammudi allegedly tried to stab Attard in the stomach. “He attempted to murder me… He was aiming at my stomach but thankfully he missed every time because I was wearing a big puffy coat, otherwise we would have been probably dead by now.” Security staff at a nearby club heard the girls’ cries and tackled the attacker, holding him down until the police arrived.

His accomplice is still understood to be on the run.

Gammudi, a former Gaddafi militant who has a history of violent crime, had been jailed for three years for threatening three people at knifepoint in March 2016

As he was arraigned by Inspector Nikolai Sant this morning, Gammudi tapped his head saying he was “crazy.”

He had briefly escaped police custody and was recaptured and is being held under constant watch. It is understood that the man is being treated for mental illness.

Defence lawyer Noel Bartolo asked for bail, but this was objected to by the prosecution, who pointed out that the accused had only been released from prison in December and was not trustworthy. There were also a number of witnesses yet to testify, said Inspector Sant.

Bartolo asked that if bail was going to be denied, that the man be held at the forensic ward at Mount Carmel Hospital.
Bail was denied, with the court upholding the defence’s recommendation that he be detained in the hospital.