Two jailed over mobile phone theft

Two men were jailed for a total of four years after admitting to stealing four mobile phones worth €600 and selling them for €60.

Kevin Brincat, 33, and Ivan Galea, 34, were caught on CCTV footage from the Vodafone outlet in Republic Street in Valletta pulling open a Perspex cabinet and taking the phones on Tuesday afternoon.

Police Inspector Pierre Micallef-Grimaud told the court they had stolen the phones to fuel their drug habits.

The men admitted to stealing the phones and asked to attend a drug rehabilitation programme.

After taking into consideration their early guilty pleas and the fact that they had relapsed, Magistrate Anthony Vella jailed them for two years each and made a recommendation to the prison authorities for them to attend a rehabilitation programme.