A 34-year-old man has been remanded in custody after admitting he sexually assaulted an Italian woman who was on holiday in Malta. 

Najah Afheez, who told the court he was employed as a house painter, was charged with a raft of sexual offences against the same woman, committed between 3 am and 6 am on April 16 in the area of St Paul’s Bay. 

The 34-year-old Egyptian man was accused of committing non-consensual sexual acts against his victim as well as sexually harassing her, subjecting her to sexually degrading behaviour, holding her against her will and causing her to fear violence. 

He was separately charged with stealing a mobile phone from a man, public drunkenness, disturbing the peace and breaching bail conditions. 

The circumstances of the incident were not discussed in court. 

Afheez, who was assisted by an interpreter, pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against him. 

Prosecuting lawyer Cynthia Tomasuolo said that given the nature of the crimes and the fact that the accused has faced similar charges and on his own admission breached previous bail conditions, the prosecution would be seeking prison time. 

“He was given an opportunity to reform during other procedures but not only did he breach his bail condition but went out and committed another crime, so we are looking for an effective jail term,” she said. 

Defence lawyer Carmel Gatt said that on the day of the incident, the accused went out drinking because it was the anniversary of his mother’s death and did not remember committing any crimes. 

“He doesn’t remember what he did, so much so that he went to the police station to sign the bail book as usual and did not know why he was arrested, so we are requesting that he is allowed to be treated for alcohol addiction,” he said. 

The prosecutor countered that the accused would be able to receive treatment while he was in prison. 

The case was deferred for sentencing to May 4. 

Inspector Ryan Vella and lawyer Joseph Camilleri Azarov also appeared for the prosecution. 

The victim, Lara Ali Shahin, previously told Times of Malta that she had been on holiday in Malta by herself and that she had gone out to a pub with some friends she made locally. There Afheez made advances at her but she ignored him. 

When she returned to her hotel later that evening, she found Afheez there as well and he subsequently followed her into her room and assaulted her. 

As she started screaming, staff rushed into the room and pulled the man off her, but Afheez escaped.