A man offered a shopkeeper sex with two different females in lieu of payment for goods from his shop, the court heard on Monday.
The customer allegedly went there a third time and held up the Santa Venera grocery shop at gunpoint on December 8.
Themistocles Attard, 46 year-old from Birżebbuġa, was arraigned before magistrate Claire Stafrace, accused of theft, carrying a firearm without a licence and relapsing, among other charges.
Mr Attard’s lawyer, Mario Spiteri, pleaded not guilty on his behalf, saying that the man was fighting a drug problem and had a wife who had been seriously ill for years.
Taking the witness stand on Monday, shop owner Joseph Saliba said the man had first gone into the shop and chosen items costing around €6.
Mr Attard said he did not have enough money to pay but offered him sex with a woman he claimed was his wife. The shopkeeper refused and told them to leave his shop.
The court heard how Mr Attard had then returned to the shop with another woman, and again offered sexual relations, this time in exchange for a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, with the shopkeeper again refusing the request.
Returns to outlet holding a ‘black item’
Mr Saliba said that later that…
