Jailed for 30 months

Charles, known as Charlot, Cutajar, 42, of Marsascala, was yesterday jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Cutajar faced a string of nine charges, ranging from theft from households to theft of cars and drug possession to relapsing. He pleaded guilty to the theft of a car, using false number plates and relapsing.

But Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera considered the evidence and decided that the police had produced enough evidence to prove their case.

The court said that as the accused had been given many opportunities before, it felt that only a prison sentence was adequate in such circumstances.

The magistrate ordered that the time he spent in preventive custody should not be deducted from the prison term.

Inspector Jeffrey Cilia prosecuted.