Court keeps man in custody over 55 suspected offences

The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling keeping a man in pre-trial detention until no later than November 2, over suspicions that he committed dozens of offences. mbl.is reported that the allegations include theft, fraud and aggravated assault.

The man appealed a Reykjavik District Court ruling from October 6, seeking to have it overturned. Alternatively, he asked for a less restrictive measure or a shorter detention period. The police commissioner for the capital region sought to have the ruling upheld. The Court of Appeal issued its decision on Monday, agreeing with the District Court’s reasoning.

Police arrested the man on September 9 as part of an investigation into a theft from a car in Reykjavik four days earlier. A woman reported that her bag had been stolen while she was inside a house for about five minutes. It contained, among other items, a diamond cross, a gold bracelet and a card wallet. Police estimated the stolen property was worth about 700,000 Icelandic krónur.

According to the police report, the woman’s card was used at a shop on Laugavegur shortly after the theft, and police identified the man in shop footage.

The court ruling also refers to an investigation into an alleged aggravated assault on September 5. A woman told police the man punched her, repeatedly kicked her in the head, grabbed her by the hair and swung her against walls. Police said she had visible injuries to her face.

The man is suspected of 55 offences between May 28, 2024, and September 5, 2026, including 18 this year. The allegations include theft, fraud, property damage, weapons law violations and aggravated assault.

An indictment containing 32 counts was issued against him on June 3 over alleged offences between May 2024 and October 2025. It includes allegations of shop thefts and fraud involving transactions on Facebook. His defence lawyer told the District Court that the main hearing in that case was planned for late January.

The District Court said the information before it supported a reasoned suspicion that the man was responsible for most of the offences under investigation. It found a risk he would offend again if released, and said measures such as a travel ban would not be sufficient. The court also considered it highly likely that he would receive an unsuspended sentence if convicted in the cases still pending.