A man was robbed of his mobile and some €700 in cash as he was taking photos of two men inside a Marsa store after recognizing one of them as the aggressor who had attacked him a while before, a court heard on Wednesday.

The incident landed Justin Mallia, 24 of Santa Lucija - one of the two men in the store - back in court, months after he had been granted bail in separate proceedings.

The case started on Monday evening when a Somali man reported that he had been having a drink at a Marsa bar when a stranger drove up in a car, stepped out and assaulted him.

Following that allegedly unprovoked attack, the stranger drove off.

Later that evening at around 9:pm, the victim was walking along Triq is-Serkin when he spotted two men inside a store.

One of them - not the accused- appeared to be the same man who had attacked him earlier.

He decided to photograph the men and then file a police report.

Police Inspector Sarah Kathleen Zerafa said CCTV footage showed the alleged victim holding up his mobile phone to snap pictures of the two.

The accused signalled his mate and then ran after the victim, attacking him and snatching the mobile phone, together with some €700 in cash which were tucked away inside the man’s pocket.

“The victim did take photos, that’s true. But it wasn’t the victim who provoked the attack,” said the prosecutor.

Mallia was charged with aggravated theft, holding the victim against his will and slightly injuring him.

He was also charged with breaching two previous bail decrees and relapsing.

He pleaded not guilty.

Bail was objected to by the prosecution, mainly because the victim still has to testify.

Moreover, the accused had last regularly signed the bail book towards the end of last year and had only turned up to sign some three or four times this year, added Inspector Zerafa.

When police called at his address some time after the incident, Mallia was not there. That meant that he was not at home outside curfew hours.

The accused had later told police that he had gone to sleep at a friend’s place after quarrelling with his partner that day.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono promptly rebutted that the couple had patched things up, pointing out that the accused’s partner was present in court.

Asked by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, the woman confirmed that if granted bail, the accused would live with her. 

After hearing submissions the court declared that a decision on bail would be decreed on in chambers.

Lawyer Francesca Zarb was also defence counsel.