Man who had previously been deported pleads guilty to supermarket thefts

A man has admitted to robbing the same supermarket three times over the course of roughly one month.

Marius Stefan, 40, from Romania was charged with stealing from a Mellieha supermarket three times in July. He is believed to have carried out the thefts together with another man who was charged separately.  

Stefan, who had previously been jailed for pickpocketing, was arraigned on 13 August and pleaded guilty to theft charges.

The court, presided by magistrate Rachel Montebello, observed that, although he had been charged with recidivism, no evidence of his previous sentences had been exhibited and so did not find him guilty of a charge to that effect.

Likewise, an accusation of having returned to Malta despite having been deported was also unsupported by evidence and the court said it could not take this allegation as proven.

Although the accused had pleaded guilty at a relatively early stage of proceedings, the court said that he had not cooperated with the police and that not all the stolen items had been returned. €85 worth of goods remained unreturned.

Stefan was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to reimburse the stolen €85 within six months.

Inspector Clayton Camilleri prosecuted.

Lawyers Lennox Vella and Marisa Mifsud were defence counsel.