Thief jailed, lookout gets suspended sentence

A Briton, Mark Anthony Bennett, 21, was yesterday jailed for four years for stealing from 44 hotel rooms and a friend was given a suspended jail term for acting as a lookout and also stealing items.

Todd Henderson-Drake, 20, residing in Attard, was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years after admitting to acting as a lookout during the thefts and also stealing from four hotel rooms together with Mr Bennett who on Thursday pleaded guilty to stealing from 44 hotel rooms over the last three months.

Mr Henderson-Drake said he worked as a chef but had been out of work for the past two months. Magistrate Antonio Mizzi asked him whether he would be returning to the UK after being sentenced and he replied in the negative, adding that there were no jobs in Britain. The two men were assisted by Matthew Borg, 20, of Mosta, who admitted taking part in seven of the thefts and handling stolen property. He was given a two-year jail term suspended for two on Thursday.

Police Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Gabriel Micallef prosecuted.