Sacked supermarket employee cleared of theft

A former LIDL employee, who was fired after a colleague had placed stolen cameras in her car, has been cleared of theft after the court held that a witness had lied to it. 

Magistrate Calire Stafrace Zammit declared 29-year-old Amanda Calleja to be innocent after it held that the testimony of a former colleague, Jonathan Psaila, who had admitted to the thefts in separate proceedings, was unreliable. 

Psaila had alleged that Calleja had asked him to steal five Fuji cameras during a staff party at the Westin Dragonara Hotel on the night of 27 April, 2012. The cameras were meant to be prizes for a raffle organised by the management.

When the management noticed the cameras were missing, Psaila took them to Calleja's car, where they were found stashed under the front seat. 

Calleja consistently denied any involvement in the theft, however. She told the court that she had given Psaila a lift to the party and that he had left his jacket in the car. While she was smoking outside with some workmates, Psaila had approached her and asked her for her car keys. Assuming that he needed them to collect his jacket, she handed them over to him. Several other witnesses confirmed this account.

In separate criminal proceedings, Psaila had admitted to committing the thefts and had been sentenced, however he had insisted to the court that Calleja had told him to steal the cameras and place them in her car. 

The magistrate however was unconvinced by his testimony, which was not helped by several inconsistencies. Psaila had claimed to have been drunk on the night, but later clearly remembered the accused telling him to take the cameras. He had also claimed to have won a prize on the night, in reality not winning anything.

The inconsistencies led the court to distrust Psaila's account, and in light of the lack of any other evidence of the accused's involvement, cleared her of the charge. 

Police Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Calleja.