A Swedish man was today charged with stealing an iPad and a bag belonging to an employee at the St Julians hotel where he was staying.

Emil Sebastian Engstrom Launoila, 28, pleaded not guilty of stealing the bag, worth €80, and the iPad, worth €875, to the detriment of Geilani Ahmed El-Gamei yesterday between 4 and 5pm at the Sun and Fun Hotel in St Julian's.

He was also charged with handling stolen property and relapsing.

Before the case started being heard, Mr Launoila told Magistrate Charmaine Galea that the case "had been handled in the worse way possible" by police.

After consulting with his legal aid lawyer, Alessandro Lia, he pleaded not guilty to the charges and Police Inspector Trevor Micallef asked the court to hear the testimony of the accused's girlfriend.

Niina Joensuu said she had been with Mr Launoila for about a year and they had moved to Malta about nine months ago. They used to live in a Sliema apartment but, five days ago, they moved into the St Julian's hotel.

Yesterday, she met Sebastian outside the hotel when she got back from work and they went out. She returned to hotel later while he remained out.

At about 7.30pm the police knocked at her door and told her they were informed that there was a bag containing stolen items in their room. She allowed them in and they found the bag containing the iPad in the luggage which she shared with Mr Launoila. She called him and he told her not to speak without a lawyer.

She said she had never noticed the bag before police found it. Only she and her boyfriend had access to the room, apart from hotel staff.

Earlier, when a court staff member pointed out that her voice could not be clearly understood, Mr Launoila shouted that she was clearly nervous and the courts ought to show her some respect.

Magistrate Charmaine Galea turned down the bail request at this stage saying that there was a risk the accused might interfere with investigations and due to the fact that he did not have a permanent address and lost both his ID card and Passport.

On realising that he was not granted bail he turned to the police officers in court and told them "good job" followed by "let's see what other stories you'll come up with."