Suspended jail term for building sites thief

A man was given a suspended jail term after admitting to 11 thefts from different construction sites over a period of 16 months.

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona told Bruno Farrugia, 27, he got off considerably light, given the amount of items stolen and the frequency. He warned the accused to be very careful if he did not want to end up in prison.

Police Inspector Daniel Zammit explained that Mr Farrugia had stolen items from nine construction sites and from two factories, in each case taking over €232 worth of tools. The crimes happened between September 2007 and last October.

Mr Farrugia stood in the dock attentively following the proceedings as the magistrate listened to submissions on punishment.

The prosecuting officer told the court that Mr Farrugia had fully cooperated with the police during investigations and they had solved a number of crimes thanks to his involvement.

The court took into consideration the fact that Mr Farrugia had a rather clean police record and that he had admitted to the crimes in an early stage of the proceedings. He then handed down a two-year jail term suspended for four years.