Man gives fake name in false passports case

A Serbian man jailed for six months for the possession of false passports yesterday admitted to giving a false name to the court that jailed him.

Srdjan Stevanovic, 26, is due to be released on Saturday and deported, after being found guilty on July 25 of possessing three false passports.

Before Magistrate Antonio Mizzi had jailed him for six months, Mr Stevanovic provided the court with a false name - Marko Stanenkovic - claiming this was his real identity. The judgment was registered under this name.

Mr Stevanovic had also provided a different name when he was originally charged with possessing the false passports before a different magistrate.

Yesterday he admitted to having supplied the false name before Magistrate Mizzi and was as a result imprisoned for one year suspended for two.

Mr Stevanovic had been arrested after his flatmate sought the police's assistance so that she could remove her items from the flat they had shared for eight weeks in Marsascala. She had decided to move out after friends warned her that the man was a heroin user and that she would have to be careful not to anger him as he carried a knife.

The woman, Rachael Kershaw, had told the court that her flatmate had previously confessed to her that he stole €50,000 from a man in Serbia and possessed two false passports.

Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna took into consideration Mr Stevanovic's early guilty plea. Also, since the judgment handed down by Magistrate Mizzi had been registered under the false name it did not appear on his conviction sheet. The court could therefore only take into consideration the single conviction for drug possession.

Police Inspector Anna-Marie Micallef prosecuted.

Lawyer Richard Sladden appeared for Mr Stevanovic.