Hunger gets the better of man under house arrest

Hunger pangs landed an 18-year-old man in trouble after he nipped out to grab a Turkish kebab while under house arrest.

Richard Muscat was yesterday jailed for four months after two alert police officers noticed him inside a kebab house while they were on the beat in St Paul's Bay on March 28.

Mr Muscat had been granted bail last July and ordered not to leave his house unless to speak to his lawyer, go to work or see a doctor. He would have to inform the police in either case.

Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Carmelo Magri said that officers Gabria Gatt and Fabio Schembri had told him they had seen Mr Muscat in the kebab house at 1.30 a.m.

When questioned, Mr Muscat denied ever being there and said he was at home on his computer at the time, claiming they had actually seen his brother who resembled him.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said Mr Muscat had not even brought his brother to the witness stand to prove his version of events.

Taking into consideration he had relapsed, the court jailed him for four months.