A 22-year-old holidaying in Malta will be swapping his hostel for Corradino Correctional Facility, with a court denying him bail in a case concerning a stolen iPad.

Belgian Victor Lucien Naessens is charged with having last Wednesday morning allegedly stolen the Apple tablet from a parked Citroen vehicle in St George's Road, St Julian's.

He was arraigned and charged with aggravated theft as well as with wilful damage to the gadget.

The prosecution led by Inspector Nikolai Sant gave an account of how the stolen tablet was traced via GPS to the accused, who was caught red-handed. The man was taken into police custody and the tablet was returned to its rightful owner.

The accused, assisted by legal aid lawyer Noel Bartolo, explained in court that he had no fixed residence in Malta since he had resided at various hostels. Back home in Belgium he performed odd jobs and was at present unemployed.

In reply to the magistrate's question regarding his plea the young offender replied "For my lawyer, guilty." The court, presided by magistrate Gabriella Vella, responded "Do you admit the charges? Not for your lawyer, but what have you to say?"

After seeming to hesitate for a while, the accused pleaded not guilty. The defence requested bail, but this was immediately objected to by the prosecution.

The court, taking note of the accused's own admission that he lacked a fixed address and that he had no personal ties in Malta, denied bail. Given that the man was only on holiday and could therefore easily abscond from the island, the magistrate declared that it was "not at all convinced" of the man's reliability.