A Nigerian, who was deported from Malta after he was found abusing a horse, has been arrested for murder in Italy.

Robert Omo, 24, is alleged to have bludgeoned a Chinese man to death using a hammer. He also allegedly seriously injured a Bulgarian man.

He was charged in an Avellino court last week and is pleading not guilty, claiming to not recall what happened in the incident.

Italian media has reported that Omo was unprovoked when he attacked the two men on July 30, first striking the 49-year-old Bulgarian from behind and then attacking a 59-year-old Chinese man who stepped in to stop him.

The Bulgarian man is still in hospital with serious injuries while the Chinese man died as a result of the attack.

Omo was in Italy after having been expelled from Malta. He had been caught inside a Xewkija stable with his trousers down, standing behind a horse.

Video footage showed him chasing the horse around the stables, kicking it and hitting it.

He told the Maltese court that he had been drinking heavily that day and was looking for his mobile phone on the ground. But a magistrate did not buy that story and in November 2020 Omo was jailed for 12 months for animal cruelty alongside a fine of €3,000.

He was deported to Italy, from where he had come to Malta, after serving that sentence in Malta’s prison.

He subsequently applied for asylum in Italy after exiting Maltese prison. His lawyer, Nicola D’Archi, said his client had originally wanted to go back to Nigeria, but his application did not succeed.

Italian media reported that Omo was living at a care home in Avellino but had been expelled after he assaulted a worker there.