A British man with a learning difficulty and a severe drinking problem was today charged with causing almost €800 worth of damage to his hotel room on Thursday.

Joey Bond, 36, at first pleaded not guilty to damaging several items in his room at the Soreda Hotel at 9.45pm.

Seeing him very agitated, Magistrate Miriam Hayman asked the accused - who stood in the dock barefoot - what was wrong. He told the magistrate he had a learning difficulty and was receiving benefits in London. He said he could pay for the damage but had to go to London to get the money.

He admitted he had a drinking problem that often landed him in trouble.

The magistrate warned him that he could not leave Malta until he paid for the damage he had caused.

On the request of his lawyer, Alessandro Lia, the sitting was suspended for a few minutes for him to consult his client. Once the sitting resumed, Mr Bond entered a guilty plea and promised to pay the damage by December 17, when he is expected to leave.

"I don't want to be locked up," he told the court as he kept telling himself, and at one point even the magistrate, to "shut up".

Magistrate Hayman jailed him for eight months suspended for 18 months and ordered him to pay the damages.

She patiently explained the punishment and even asked him to repeat what she had told him to ensure he understood.

"I think he needs help once he knows about his problem," she told the prosecution and defence.