An elderly couple was mugged in broad daylight in Sliema on Saturday, in a violent incident which left a 91-year-old man grievously injured.

The mugging happened on the corner of Triq Nicolo Isouard and Triq Dun Karm and was reported to police at around 7.20pm, a police spokesman confirmed.

Word of the crime spread on Facebook after details were posted to a Sliema residents’ group.

“My aunt got mugged outside church today in broad daylight,” a person told the group administrator, who posted on their behalf. “My uncle got punched and fell and got injured. He is in his 90s and she in the 80s. They are still at Mater Dei being checked. Sliema really isn’t safe anymore,” the post continued.

A police spokesman confirmed that an 87-year-old woman and 91-year-old man, both from Sliema, had been robbed in the area.

The mugger got away with jewellery the woman was wearing.

“It was a Maltese guy and he stole the pearls round her neck,” the relative told the Facebook group administrator.

The woman’s husband was shoved as he tried to stop the thief and ended falling to the ground.

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An ambulance was called to the scene and took him to Mater Dei Hospital. In a statement, the police said that the man had been grievously injured. 

'No longer safe'

"It's becoming really scary out here," the person posting wrote. "Old people who go out with their jewellery are an easy target". 

Sliema has been hit by a wave of burglaries in recent months, with police confirming a sudden spike in such thefts in the Sliema and St Julian’s area. In April, Times of Malta reported that thieves were drilling through locks to gain access to homes, in one case even locking a sleeping family in their bedroom as they ransacked their villa.