Two men admitted stealing an elderly woman’s handbag on the street, only to have it snatched back by a passing foreigner.

Three men from Marsa were arraigned yesterday and charged with stealing the handbag of a 60-year-old woman in Tigné Street, Sliema on Thursday.

Two of the men, Adrian Zammit, 31, and John Mamo, 26 pleaded guilty while Denis Cremona, 35, denied the charge. They allegedly drove up to the victim, Victoria Amato Gauci, got out of the car and snatched her handbag. However, when they tried to run off with it a foreigner caught up with them and grabbed the bag back. Mr Zammit was also accused of breaking the terms of a suspended sentence and probation.

They were all granted bail, Mr Zammit and Mr Mamo against a personal guarantee of €2,000 and Mr Cremona against €3,000. The arraignment comes after three people, two men and a woman, were accused of a snatch and run robbery in Sliema which left 80-year-old Rose Garroni dead just outside her house in Dingli Street a few weeks ago. She had been found unconscious in a pool of blood still clutching the handle of what was left of her bag.

In the attack, Mrs Garroni’s hip was broken in three parts, she suffered a broken femur and a massive head trauma.