A thief made police work a little easier when they found his victim's business card in the sackful of items he had just stolen.

Aaron Ritchie, 24, was arrested after he suspiciously dumped his booty as soon as he saw the police. But they really had little to go on until they stumbled upon a business card, phoned the number on it and established that the objects inside the sack had been stolen from the man at the other end of the line.

The sack contained DVD players and other household items taken from the man's villa in Swieqi.

The owners of the villa, who happen to be Russian, were away at the time of the break-in but alert policemen noticed Mr Ritchie not too far from the house moving suspiciously.

Mr Ritchie admitted to the crime in court yesterday as well as to relapsing.

Before jailing him for 18 months, Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani took into consideration that Mr Ritchie had been already given previous chances to reform and has serious drug problems.

The court said the man had not shown the motivation to pull himself out of these problems and finish a rehabilitation programme due to some psychological difficulties he is experiencing. The court ordered that he be given all the necessary treatment in prison.

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