Police charge handbag thief

An elderly woman burst into tears when the police showed her they had recovered a gold ring and bracelet of sentimental value stolen from her that very day.

"The ring had been in my possession since I was 13 and the bracelet was a gift from one of my children," said 65-year-old Emanuela Brookshaw who broke down in tears again in the court room when asked if she recognised the items.

Mrs Brookshaw was testifying during the arraignment of Matthew Vassallo, 20, of Senglea who pleaded not guilty to stealing her handbag in Marsascala on Sunday at about 11.30 a.m.

Mrs Brookshaw told Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna that she had come to Malta on holiday as she had family here. On Sunday, she went for a walk with her husband in Marsascala.

"As we were walking I felt someone touch the strap of my handbag, I heard my husband shout and when I turned round I noticed a man pull at my bag.

"I grappled with the man but the handbag slipped from my hands and the man ran off with it. I ran after him and noticed he was heading towards a slow-moving yellow car," she said.

"I did not see him get into the car. I then remembered that my husband, who had a disability, was unattended so I turned back to him."

In the meantime passers-by had called police who arrived there within 15 minutes.

Mrs Brookshaw explained that in the bag there were her spectacles, the hotel room key and her purse. There was also a ring and a bracelet which she kept wrapped in a handkerchief.

Asked why she was not wearing the jewellery, she explained she only wore it in the evenings and kept it in her bag because she thought it would be safe there.

She went on to explain how later on Sunday Police Inspector Michael Mallia, prosecuting, called her to go to the headquarters. There she was shown the bracelet and the ring which she recognised as hers and started crying.

She explained that one of her children had given her the bracelet and she had had the ring since she was 13. She knew that the bracelet was worth some £30 while the ring was worth £600.

At the end of the sitting Mrs Brookshaw expressed her wish to take back the jewellery that had been exhibited in court.

But the magistrate ruled that he had to turn down the request at this stage because of their value as evidence.

Magistrate Apap Bologna ordered that Mr Vassallo be detained at Mount Carmel Hospital.

Lawyer Kenneth Grima appeared for Mr Vassallo.