A jury will determine whether a kebab shop employee was mentally unstable when he allegedly defrauded a British pensioner of his life savings.

The 29-year-old from Sliema is charged with defrauding the man of €54,000 in the summer of 2012.

But he claims he was suffering an extreme mood swing due to his bi-polar disorder and was incapable of intentionally breaking the law.

During the sitting yesterday, psychiatrists George Debono and Jean Pierre Giorgio testified the accused was suffering from a “manic” mood during the time of the alleged crime.

They described the disorder as having opposite ends, with sufferers going from feeling elated and “high” to feeling depressed quite rapidly.

When on a high, some became almost “geniuses” and were able to achieve things they would otherwise not be able to.

Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Rennie Stivala said that, according to investigations, the accused met the victim at Times Square bar in Sliema about four years earlier. He presented himself as the owner of a computer shop and helped the Briton with some computer problems.

He also told the pensioner his father was a financial consultant and could secure very a attractive return on investments.

The accused spent two years trying to persuade the man to invest his savings and finally succeeded: the Briton handed over €54,000.

In return, he would receive “investment certificates”.

The inspector explained to the court how this would work. The employer of the accused, at the kebab shop, had rented an apartment from Global Capital Investments. A representative of the company would then collect the rent money from the accused at the kebab shop.

The receipts for the rental money, signed by the representative, would then be used to fabricate the certificates, the inspector said.

The pensioner only realised there was a problem when he began to ask for the promised returns and the accused stopped all contact.

The man’s parents told him their son was very sick and had lied to him, Inspector Stivala said.

Dr Debono and Dr Giorgio said the accused was currently under psychiatric care.

His bi-polar disorder could make him hallucinate people dressed like the Mafia, they said. He committed the crime so the ‘Mafia’ would leave him alone, he told doctors.

They said it was unlikely he was pretending to have psychiatric issues. The case continues today.