Alleged bag thief stopped in his tracks

A man tried to steal a handbag from a tourist on a Buġibba beach but she spotted him as she was about to enter the water and shouted for help, a court heard yesterday.

Michaela Holcova, a Russian, yesterday testified that she noticed 35-year-old Shaun McKeown hovering around her sun-bed at Bognor Beach between 10 and 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

He wasn't really bothering her so she did not pay any more attention to him. But when she got up to go for a swim and had reached the shoreline, she turned and saw him rummaging through her bag.

She shouted at him and ran back, by which time he had turned around and, bag in hand, was hurriedly walking away and up the stairs which lead down to the beach, she testified.

Luckily a woman who was standing in her balcony noticed the commotion and alerted a passer-by who ran down the stairs and stopped Mr Mckeown.

Ms Holcova told the court that nothing had gone missing from the bag, which contained a €500 camera, a €90 watch and around €10 in cash.

Mr Mckeown pleaded not guilty to stealing the bag and to the theft of an €800 Iphone and €150 in cash from another person on the same beach four days earlier.

Magistrate Michael Mallia granted him bail against a personal guarantee of €2,000.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil appeared for the accused.