A police officer has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting stealing cash and other items from a house in Mosta.

Alexander Mallia, 40, from Mosta, was charged with the residential theft, which took place on Tuesday.

He was also charged with handling stolen goods and committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent.

He pleaded guilty before Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras and was jailed for two years suspended for four years.

Apart from the suspended jail term, the magistrate ordered the police officer to pay back the amount stolen.

The court sitting was unusually short, with the prosecuting officer, Nicholas Vella, and the defence lawyer, Joe Brincat, spending a long time at the magistrate’s bench discussing the case.

The charges were not read out in open court and neither were any details of the case explained in court.

Sources said the police officer was at a home in Carmelo Schembri Street, Mosta, belonging to acquaintances, from which he stole several items, mostly cash

Even the procedure whereby the defendant states his name, age and details was fast-tracked, and the police officer’s mumbled replies could barely be heard.

After the sitting, against usual procedure, the prosecuting officer refused to give the journalists present the charge sheet.

Sources said the police officer was at a home in Carmelo Schembri Street, Mosta, belonging to acquaintances, from which he stole several items, mostly cash.

For this reason, he was not charged with theft aggravated by a break-in. The sources said the amount stolen was over €230.