A teenager accused of stealing a mobile phone and damaging several parked cars early in the morning on New Year's Day told a court today he had no recollection of any of the acts he stands accused of. 

Prosecutors allege that Abdimajid Noor Ismael, 19 and residing at Marsascala, stole an Apple iPhone 7 from the Hilton in St Julian's yesterday at 2am and later crashed his Ford Escort into several parked cars while driving down Naxxar road in San Ġwann. Getting out of his vehicle, the accused had even allegedly aimed a kick at another vehicle as it happened to drive past.

The passengers inside this car alerted police to the aggression. Mr Ismael was subsequently tracked down by the police inside a block of flats close to the place where the collision had occurred. He was allegedly damaging water pipes on the property when police caught up with him.

Mr Ismael, assisted by a legal aid lawyer, pleaded not guilty and declared that he did not recall any of the acts leading to his arraignment. The defence pointed out that breathalyser tests carried out shortly after his arrest yielded negative results.

The court was also asked to consider the fact that the accused, who hails from Somali, was a registered immigrant with a regular passport and identity card. Denying him bail would disrupt his employment, the court was told.

The prosecution however objected to the request for bail since the accused had a reputation of hopping from one address to another.

The court, presided by magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, upheld the request for bail making it very clear to the accused that he was to reside at one fixed address and nowhere else. Violating any one of the bail conditions would lead to very serious repercussions, the magistrate said.

The court concluded by granting the accused freedom from arrest against a personal guarantee of €1,000 whilst ordering him to sign the bail book twice weekly at the Zabbar police station.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol prosecuted. Lawyer Josette Sultana was legal aid.