A youth who allegedly broke into an apartment block in the early hours on Sunday to seek shelter from a person he had argued with, was granted bail upon his arraignment on Monday.

The man, who is under curfew over separate proceedings, allegedly breached separate bail conditions when he was found outside of his registered residence at 1am.

Ibrahim Micallef, a 22-year-old St Paul’s Bay resident, was arrested after police were alerted to the presence of strangers inside an apartment block in the same locality.

When officers turned up on site at around 1am on Sunday, they allegedly came across the suspected intruders, namely the accused and another person, asleep inside a room at rooftop level.

The owner of the apartment block later informed the police that the lock to the entrance was damaged. 

Those damages did not exceed €250, the court was told.  

Micallef explained that he had sought shelter inside the block after arguing with a third party who was allegedly threatening him. 

Today, the youth was charged with wilful damage to third-party property, committing the alleged offence during the operative term of a suspended sentence as well as breaching bail by failing to abide by a court-imposed curfew. 

He pleaded not guilty and requested bail.

After hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Leonard Caruana, upheld the request against a deposit of €1,000, a personal guarantee of €5,000, signing the bail book daily and a curfew between 9pm and 7am.

Inspector George Frendo prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel. 

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