A homeless Maltese man has been remanded in custody after he was arraigned on charges of stealing from his own parents.

Sean Pace, 38, who is unemployed, appeared before magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace this morning accused of the aggravated theft of two gold rings, a mobile phone and a camera from his parents, entering private property, handling stolen goods and relapsing.

Lawyer David Camilleri entered a plea of not guilty, but did not request bail.

Instead, the defence asked that the man be remanded in custody at Mount Carmel Hospital’s Forensic ward due to the fact that he is supposed to start a drug rehab programme in the coming weeks. He had already started another, similar, programme at the hospital, the lawyer said.

But the accused was cynical about the situation at Mount Carmel, telling the court that it was a hotbed of drug abuse.

“A couple of weeks ago my cousin died there because of the drugs that go there. That’s how great the Forensic section is,” the accused said.

Inspector Hubert Cini prosecuted.