A young homeless man who purposely smashed a glass door at a St Paul’s Bay bakery store in a desperate bid for repatriation was given a suspended sentence upon his arraignment on Thursday.

Serbian national Modrag Petrovic, 20, was charged with willfully damaging the sliding glass door in the incident which took place at about 9pm on Tuesday. The cost of repairing the door was valued at €472.

“He did this just to be sent back to his country. He was homeless and lived on the street. He wishes to be sent back,” explained prosecuting Inspector Spiridione Zammit, adding that, although at the time of his arrest the man had claimed to have consumed beer, the man was not drunk.

Lawyer Charmaine Cherrett, assisting the accused as legal aid counsel, told the court that her client was “very sorry”, but had found himself in dire circumstances, with no relatives or friends in a Malta who could offer financial help.

When making submissions on punishment, Dr Cherrett pointed out that the accused had fully cooperated with the police, filed an early guilty plea and also admitted why he had acted in that way.

“He did not waste any of the police’s time. He is in a pitiful situation because his friends betrayed him and he ended up homeless.”

In view of the accused’s own admission and after being informed that the man lacked the means to pay for the damage caused, duty magistrate Rachel Montebello gave him a one-year jail term suspended for 18 months, observing that the accused had clearly gone about resolving his problems in the wrong way.

Moreover, having no means to support oneself was an offence in itself and the damage caused to the shop had been totally uncalled for, the court said, further ordering the accused to pay the €472 in damages within six months.

Sources close to the case said the man is to be repatriated at the earliest opportunity.