A 19-year old youth from Hamrun has been denied bail after he was accused of robbing an elderly woman in August last year.

Deelian Mifsud appeared in the dock before magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech this morning, accused of the aggravated theft of jewellery and other objects from the 78-year-old victim and with putting her health in danger in Attard last August.

Mifsud was also charged with having, on February 26, stolen a man’s mobile phone in Birkirkara and breaching a suspended sentence handed to him in 2017.

Prosecuting police inspector Christina Delia also asked the court to treat the accused as a serial relapser.

Defence counsel, lawyer Raisa Colombo, entered a plea of not guilty on the youth’s behalf and requested bail.

The prosecution objected to the request for bail, pointing out that the witnesses present at the time of the theft – the elderly woman and her husband - were vulnerable due to their age. The inspector also argued that in his last statement, Mifsud had declared that he was homeless.

In court today, the accused said that he lived with his mother, but could not explain why he was never home when the police went to speak to him there.

Magistrate Frendo Dimech, after hearing the parties and after taking into account the gravity of the crimes, the accused’s untrustworthiness, the lack of a fixed address and the fact that witnesses were yet to testify, denied bail. Mifsud was remanded in custody.