A Tunisian who went through a messy separation with his wife yesterday used this to justify why he had stolen a mo­bile phone and then threatened the police with a knife.

Amor Maatoug, 39, from Ġzira, admitted to taking the phone from the Times Gone By bar in his hometown on Monday.

He was caught after witnesses identified him from the CCTV footage in the bar, Police Inspector Francis Sultana said.

When the police turned up the next day at his flat they were threatened with a knife, he added. He was put under probation for three years.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.