A man with serious psychiatric problems managed to obtain a top-of-the-range BMW and a slap-up meal by pretending to be a senior government employee.

The 38-year-old from Sliema, who is not being named because of his mental illness, was yesterday charged with defrauding a car rental company and restaurant over the past three months.

He told his victims to bill the OPM but payment could not be effected because he never worked for, or was close to, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

The man turned up at RG Motors Limited and drove off with a BMW, which, he said, was to be used by Dr Muscat after the model used by his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi, was causing problems, sources close to the case said.

He used the car for three months and was even involved in an accident in it. On the dashboard, he displayed a notice declaring the car to be in service of the OPM when it was parked illegally, the sources said.

At Ir-Rizzu restaurant, in Marsaxlokk, the man claimed to be a senior official before telling the owners that Dr Muscat would be eating there the next day.

He told them to attach the bill of his meal with that of the Prime Minister, who never turned up.

The man denied fraud, breaching bail conditions in three separate cases and relapsing.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla told Magistrate Antonio Vella that the accused had severe bipolar disorder and an acute drug addiction but his mental illness had to be dealt with first.

He said the accused had been through a number of drug rehabilitation programmes but relapsed each time.

The officer added that he feared the accused would be found dead somewhere if he was not treated accordingly.

Defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi agreed with the prosecution that a treatment order was needed immediately. The accused was remanded in custody.