Middle-aged couple admit to breaking into parked car in Bugibba after expulsion from hotel

In one of the stranger crimes reported this year, a Bulgarian couple in their 50s have admitted to breaking into a parked car in Bugibba and placing their belongings inside it, after their hotel asked them to leave.

Plamen Goralov, 56, and Penka Konstantinova Goralova, 54, appeared in the dock before magistrate Lara Lanfranco this afternoon, charged with causing €651 worth of damage to the vehicle in question.

Inspector George Frendo explained to the court that the couple had been thrown out of their hotel in Bugibba on 7 July. No reason for their eviction was disclosed in today’s sitting, but on that date, the police had received a report from an individual who had returned to his parked car and found that it had been damaged. He also noted items which didn’t belong to him on the seat, as well as traces of blood.

The couple were arrested when, later on that day, they returned to the vehicle to collect their belongings.

Guralova, told the court that she lived in a hotel in Bugibba and was unemployed. She pleaded guilty.

Her husband, Goralov, who was observed to be shaking throughout the sitting, gave the same address. Asked what his job was, the frail-looking bespectacled man replied “builder.” He also pleaded guilty.

The court gave the couple time to reconsider their guilty plea, instructing their legal aid lawyer to consult with and advise them.

After several minutes, the accused couple confirmed their admission of guilt.

In its submissions on punishment, the prosecution asked the court to order the couple to compensate the vehicle’s owner for the damage they caused, adding that they had no record of previous criminal convictions. “A suspended sentence would be sufficient,” submitted the inspector.

Lawyer Martin Matthew Farrugia, assisting the defendants, added that the man had shown remorse in his statement and that they had admitted at the earliest stage of proceedings.

He suggested the damage be paid for in monthly instalments of €50, but the court pointed out that such a small sum would not cover the damage caused in the six-month window allowed by law, “not even in a year,” observed the magistrate.

The lawyer explained that the defendants were hard up and that is what they had told him they could afford. After consulting with his clients again, Farrugia informed the court that they were willing to pay €100 per month. 

The magistrate pointed out that €110 would cover the damages in exactly six months, otherwise the injured party would be entitled to file proceedings of his own, which could land the defendants in prison anyway. The defendants agreed to pay that sum.

Magistrate Lanfranco sentenced the couple to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered them to refund €651.62 to the owner within the space of the next six months, in monthly installments.

The magistrate warned the couple of the consequences of this judgment, warning them to stay out of trouble.