Man accused of stealing electronic equipment from school acquitted

A man with a long history of criminal accusations has been acquitted of stealing computer equipment from a primary school after police failed to prove that he was at the scene of the crime when it was committed.

Wayne Delia was accused of breaking into and stealing electronic equipment from San Ġorġ Preca Primary School in the night between 16 and 17 November 2017.

At 8:30am on the 17 November 2017, the Tarxien police station received a call reporting a robbery at the primary school on Triq Ġuże D’Amato in Paola.

On the same morning at around 10:20am, the school principal went to the police station herself to report the same theft at the school. The items that were reported stolen include a computer worth €1,200, computer equipment worth around €2,200, and a flat panel interactive worth €15,000. All the items were reportedly stolen from the same classroom, Room 11.

The principal said that she did not know who locked the school the day the theft took place, nor who opened the school the day after. She added that she was informed of the theft by the school's caretaker.

The caretakers that were in charge of locking up the school that day testified in court. One caretaker said that on the morning of the theft, she had gone into the school and opened all the classrooms. She had confirmed that when she arrived at the school at 5:30am all the doors were locked and she had to open them all herself with the keys.

Another caretaker was reported to have cleaned Room 11 on 17 November, after the theft had occurred, and it was he who reported the missing items. He confirmed that he had “found the window of the classroom in the soil of the school”. He also said that, the night before the theft, he had locked Room 11 with the key. He also added that at the end of the school day, all the class teachers are obliged to close the windows of their classrooms, and it is the caretaker’s responsibility to make sure these are properly locked.

The assistant head of the school confirmed that the alarm of the school was switched on at 6:35pm on 16 November 2017 and later switched off at 5:30am on 17 November 2017 by the caretaker of the school. He revealed that there was no CCTV footage of the theft.

Upon investigation, forensic experts found palm prints on the window frame where the accused allegedly entered from. Two years after the crime, experts called in Delia to take a record of his hand prints. It was then confirmed that the hand prints found on site matched his right hand.

When Delia was called in for questioning by the inquiring magistrate and a police inspector assigned to the case, he denied himself of any legal representation and refused to answer the questions put to him.

Despite the matching hand print, the magistrate pointed out that there was no other evidence showing that Delia was at the scene of the crime when the crime took place. Moreover, the police failed to collect CCTV footage from the school during its investigations.

As a result, the court found that there was not enough tangible proof to confirm that these crimes were committed by Delia. Therefore, the court acquitted him of all the charges brought against him.

Inspectors Hubert Cini and Fabian Fleri prosecuted. Lawyer George Anton Buttigieg represented the accused. Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit presided over the case.