Serial thief jailed for 25 months on back of suspended punishments

Magistrate places 26-year-old under three-year treatment order to help him address problems leading him to break the law

In a judgment jailing a car thief for 25 months, a court has remarked that a lawless minority of foreign nationals are “casting a shadow” over the majority.

26-year-old Mohamed Mokhtar Jamhur, a Libyan national, admitted to breaking into several cars four days after being arraigned in court by police inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee, charged with two counts of attempted theft, one count of criminal damage, breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence and relapsing.

During his arraignment the police inspector said that at around 3:45am last Thursday morning, the police received reports of a man dressed in a grey hoodie who was breaking into a number of vehicles in Triq il-Fosos, Floriana.

Jamhur was later found by police in the vicinity of the Floriana Health Centre. The two cars were found to have been damaged by forced entry, but nothing had been successfully stolen, she said.

Jamhur  was said to be well known to the police, having been convicted of complicity in theft just last month. On that occasion, the court had extended a probation order he had already been placed under. In November last year, he received a suspended sentence for stabbing his wife’s lover, only to return to court, three days later, charged with threatening the man he stabbed.

Today, in view of his guilty plea, Magistrate Joe Mifsud brought into effect all the man’s previously suspended punishments and jailed him for a total of 25 months.

“It is an absolute minority of those guests amongst us who pay no heed to the laws of our country… We welcome you and continue to build our national reputation of showing great kindness to the unfortunate, but you must respect the country’s laws

“This minority is causing great harm because they are casting an ugly shadow on others who are living an exemplary life.”

The court exhorted the authorities to use the legal power granted by international treaties and not to hold back from taking steps, including removing such people from Malta.

Noting that the accused was a recidivist and had committed the offences whilst under a suspended sentence, jailed him for seven months whilst also reactivating his previous sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment. Jamhur was also placed under a three-year treatment order to help him address the problems which were leading him to break the law.