Man jailed 20 months for stealing from parked cars

A former Gaddafi supporter who had once told a court that he feared death if returned to Libya has been jailed for 20 months for stealing from parked cars.

Khalleefah Ahmed Alhaaj Aljeelani, 33, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Doreen Clarke last week, admitting to charges of aggravated theft and committing an offence during the operative period of a probation order which he had been handed just three days earlier.

Last May, Aljeelani who hails from Benghazi, had been jailed for nine months by Magistrate Joe Mifsud for stealing from a Valletta shop and living an idle and vagrant life and a number of other charges. 

Magistrate Clarke, in view of his admission, having taken into account the nature of the offences he admitted to, his criminal record and on the other hand, his early guilty plea, condemned the man to seven months imprisonment. A further 13 months was added for the crimes which he had been found guilty of on 4 March. The court recommended that he be held at the forensic ward of Mount Carmel Hospital.

Inspector Roderick Agius prosecuted.