A court heard yesterday how a man returned three times to a home at a Ħamrun housing estate but did not manage to steal anything because he was always caught.

Charles and Ermilia Borg recounted that they would wake up in the middle of the night to find a man inside their house, in the veranda or in the garden.

“One night, I saw a shadow in the bedroom. It was about 2am. I started screaming and the man jumped through the insect screen of the bedroom window. Since it never happened in 40 years, my husband thought I was dreaming,” a shaken Ms Borg said.

She recognised the accused as someone she had previously found rummaging through kitchen drawers.

Police Inspector Sarah Magri told Magistrate Carol Peralta that Abuo Diallo, 37, from Guinea, had tried to steal from the house on July 18, August 22 and September 23. On his final attempt, he was held by passers-by as he was trying to get into the residence.

She said the police had CCTV footage of Mr Diallo dismantling a car mirror and throwing it on the ground in Marsa on August 17.

He denied the charges, despite the photographs the police had.

The case continues.