A man who gave the police the slip as they tried to arrest him in a police station last month was taken to court on Wednesday and remanded in custody.

Linekar David Micallef, 30, was accused of three thefts from petrol stations in Birkirkara and Msida.

He allegedly carried out the crimes with his partner Ellie Briffa, 24 of Mosta, who was arraigned last week.

Nimble couple get away as police try to arrest them in police station

Mr Micallef could not be arraigned last week because he needed hospital treatment, but he was discharged on Tuesday. 

CCTV footage from the crime scenes had put investigators on the tail of the couple, who were known to be driving a red Kia Mentor. They used to regularly call at Birkirkara police station to sign the bail book in relation to separate proceedings.

It was there that the police had tried to arrest them on March 25, but they managed to flee. They were found several days later in a car in Rabat. 

Like his partner, Mr Micallef pleaded not guilty.

No request for bail was made. However, in view of the man’s drug problems, Magistrate Grazio Mercieca  upheld a request by defence lawyer Ismael Psaila to recommend to the Director of Prison that his client be placed on the list for rehabilitation. 

Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca and Roderick Spiteri prosecuted.

Lawyer Ishmael Psaila was defence counsel.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.