Romanians jailed over pickpocketing spree

Two pickpockets have been sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for stealing no less than 18 mobile devices from bus passengers in July last year.

The sentence, handed down by magistrate Josette Demicoli, comes a week after the publication of CrimeMalta, an annual analysis of crime statistics, which report 2,030 incidences of pickpocketing in 2014.

The pickpockets, 53-year-old Cezar Mihalache and 59-year-old Ionel Mihailovici, both residents at the same Sliema guesthouse, had initially pleaded not guilty to multiple theft charges but changed their plea to an admission at a later stage.

Mihailovici also admitted to charges of having stolen cash and recidivism.

Ana Iancu, a 53-year-old Romanian woman who had been charged together with the men in July, had pleaded guilty during during the July arraignment and had been given a 13-month jail term suspended for two years.

Most of the items stolen – 17 mobile phones and a tablet computer – had been pilfered in a three-week pickpocketing spree in July, on board buses in Sliema and St Julian’s.

The trio had been arrested after police had received a tip-off, leading them to the defendants' Sliema accommodation.

Inside, police discovered the stolen mobile phones wrapped and ready to be sent overseas. Police inspectors Jonathan Ransley and Jason Sultana prosecuted. The court was presided by Magistrate Josette Demicoli.