Jail for man with voluminous criminal record

A St Paul's Bay man, whose criminal record was "more like a book", has been jailed for two months for possession of tools that could be used for breaking into premises when he had been previously convicted for theft.

Jean Claude Cassar, 28, was jailed by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera on Thursday and yesterday he was arraigned, before the same magistrate (who happened to be the duty magistrate), and charged with complicity in the theft of several items including a mobile phone and a gold necklace to the detriment of Shara Lee in Bugibba on September 12.

He is pleading not guilty.

In Thursday's judgment, George Degiorgio, 40, and Francis Formosa, 33, also of St Paul's Bay, were cleared of the possession of tools that could be used for breaking into premises when they had been previously convicted for theft. Magistrate Scerri Herrera ruled that the police had failed to prove they had been convicted for theft.

The magistrate heard Inspector Maurice Curmi explain that when he stopped the three men in Mgarr, Gozo, he found a crowbar, a hammer, two ropes, two torches, a penknife and gloves in their car.

During questioning Cassar told the police that, except for the ropes, he did not know that the items were in the car. But Formosa and Degiorgio chose not to answer to the questions put to them by the police, as was their right to do.

The prosecution had failed to prove that Degiorgio and Formosa had been convicted for theft and, therefore, they could not be found guilty, the court ruled. However, the charge had been proven in Cassar's case, who had a criminal record that, the magistrate noted, was "more like a book".