A Somali national was jailed for two months for breaching bail conditions after he was recently released from preventive custody following five years in prison awaiting trial.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera had harsh words for Osman Omar, saying he “challenged” the administration of justice when he breached bail conditions on several times.

Mr Omar, 31, breached the conditions when he turned up at the Żejtun police station on June 11 when he was meant to be housebound.

In 2007, he had been charged with complicity in the rape of a Maltese woman at the Marsa open centre and was only released on bail last March after Jeremy Cope and his partner, Michael Owen – both friends of Mr Omar – pledged €4,000 as a personal guarantee. They also allowed him to stay at their Żejtun home.

However, Mr Cope has now informed the court that he no longer wanted to be Mr Omar’s guarantor because he was constantly breaching the court’s curfew.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera disagreed with defence lawyer Patrick Valentino’s argument that breaching a bail condition was a “small” or “negligible” offence.

Mr Omar should have understood the seriousness of the crime after he spent five years in preventive custody. “It’s imperative that these conditions are scrupulously and strictly observed,” she said.

Failure to observe the curfew was serious and could never be considered minor, Magistrate Scerri Herrera added.

She jailed Mr Omar for two months and exempted Mr Cope from acting as a guarantor.