A judge yesterday dismissed a human rights breach claim by the man who stole priceless works of art from the home of Judge Giovanni Bonello in Valletta in 2004.

Ian Farrugia complained that the prosecution in the case against him had needlessly lengthened the proceedings to wait for the case against his co-accused, Joseph Portelli, to draw to a close so that he could testify against him.

Mr Farrugia also claimed that the five-year jail term he received on appeal was exaggerated.

Mr Farrugia had originally been acquitted but the Attorney General had appealed, a retrial was ordered and he was jailed for seven years. That was lowered to five years on appeal.

Mr Justice Gino Camilleri found that the court case against Mr Farrugia had taken 20 sittings to conclude over a span of 36 months, which, in his opinion, was not an exaggerated time to conclude such a case.

He also found that the jail term was within the parameters of the law and so dismissed his claims.

Mr Farrugia had been arraigned in connection with the high-profile 1994 attempted murder of Richard Cachia Caruana, who at the time was personal assistant to the Prime Minister.

He was acquitted.