An Attard man has been given an 11-month jail term suspended for three years for stealing Lm386 from a woman's handbag.
Glenn Busuttil, 26, was found guilty of stealing the cash from Ramona Vassallo's handbag on September 23, 1999.
Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani-Grima heard Vassallo explain how Busuttil went for a drive with her and her boyfriend.
She stopped near a bank to cash a cheque and put the money in her handbag. When she dropped Busuttil off, she noticed that he was hurrying away and realised that someone had gone through her bag. When she checked, she did not find the money.
But Busuttil denied taking the money and explained that he had moved a fish in a bag from the carpet onto Vassallo's bag so she would not forget it.
But the magistrate ruled that Busuttil was not credible.
Police Inspector Paul Camilleri prosecuted.