A man who helped himself to a Samsung tablet from inside a car yesterday told a magistrate he did not know what he was doing and gave in to temptation.

Giving his particulars in court, Carmelo Gauci, 50, of Qawra, said he held three jobs. He said he worked full time as a delivery man, mispronouncing the word “delivery”.

In the evening he worked with “chickens”, to which Magistrate Francesco Depasquale asked whether he meant that he worked at weddings because, in Maltese, the words chickens and weddings sound similar.

Mr Gauci explained that he slaughtered chickens between 11pm and 4am, gesticulating to show that he meant he wrung the birds’ necks.

In between the two jobs, Mr Gauci said he distributed mailshots to households.

Police Inspector Sandra Zammit said that Mr Gauci had immediately admitted to stealing the tablet. The theft allegedly occurred on Monday morning in Qawra.

Defence Lawyer Mark Anthony Mifsud Cutajar requested bail, adding that his client would be pleading not guilty to the charges due to an issue over his colourful past.

He has been conditionally discharged three times for different crimes and needed to reconsider his position before formally pleading guilty.

The court granted him bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000.