A husband has been given three years probation after a strange incident involving the man trying to find a number of ways to pay off a grocery debt.

The case goes back to December 2018 when the now 49-year-old man, who lives in Birżebbuġa, had entered a Santa Venera grocery store, and picked up some items.

He informed the shop owner that he didn’t have money to pay for the groceries, and offered a sexual encounter with his wife and another woman to pay off the bill.

The owner refused the offer, and asked the man to leave the shop.

The shopper visited the store once more, before eventually returning a third time with a firearm before proceeding to rob the store.

He held the owner against his will before turning to his cash register. He fled the store with the cash register, which had around €500 in cash in it.

The man pleaded guilty to the charges of aggravated theft, holding the victim against his will, carrying an unlicensed firearm, and damaging third-party property, TVM reported.

His probation officer said the man had since found a job, and was planning on opening his own business soon.

After hearing his story, Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit fined the man €700 for carrying an unlicensed firearm in public and ordered the man to refund the money he stole.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri appeared for the defendant.

What do you make of this man’s offers?