A man charged with a series of car thefts got an extra five days in detention for contempt of court after a courtroom disturbance over his police statements.

Shaun Caruana, 19, from Paola, stood in the dock with his hands in his pockets as charges related to thefts from five cars were read.

He was also accused of stealing several items from a school, with committing crimes while on probation and with relapsing.

The alleged thefts took place between October and December, including on Christmas Day. One theft allegedly occurred at the San Ġorġ Preca school in Pietá on the night of December 28 of last year.

The cars in question were parked in Floriana, Valletta and Ħamrun.

He was also charged with damaging the vehicles.

Mr Caruana, who said he worked as a dishwasher at weddings, told the magistrate he had a serious stealing habit. He said he resorted to theft when he was young because he had no one to feed him and therefore he was forced to steal things.

“For every action there is a consequence. You must understand that you are a danger to society. You do not seem sorry at all for what you’ve done, so you should remain under arrest for the time being,” Magistrate Carol Peralta told him.

He was then escorted out of the courtroom but he burst back into the hall minutes later, during another arraignment, asking the lawyer for a copy of his statements. His behaviour led the magistrate to find him guilty of contempt of court and ordered an extra five days of detention. “Get out of here, rude boy,” the magistrate said angrily.

Police Inspectors Arthur Mercieca and Priscilla Caruana prosecuted.

Lawyer Joseph Ellis was defence counsel.