A couple has been jailed for five months after being found in possession of a stolen iPad which the police traced through the app to locate the tablet.

The court heard how Francois Ellul, 21, and Rowena Garcia, 23, had purchased the iPad, worth some €800, from Renaldu Rotin, soon after he had stolen it from Paul Apap Bologna's car on January 18, 2012.

Police Inspector Saviour Baldacchino testified that Mr Apap Bologna had filed a report at the Sliema police station that his iPad had gone missing from his vehicle. The police traced the tablet through its own GPS location which showed that the iPad was outside the Detox Centre at St Luke's Hospital.

When the police went there, they found Mr Ellul and Ms Garcia in their car playing around with the device. They told the police that they had just bought the device from Mr Rotin who was separately charged and admitted to the theft.

Mr Rotin also testified and explained how he had stolen the tablet and sold it to Mr Ellul. Ms Garcia was with him at the time and he had met them while he was on a bus stop.

He said he had told them that the iPad had been stolen and that he agreed to meet them later to get paid. He said he never received any money because the couple was arrested in the meantime.

Magistrate Claire-Louise Stafrace found the couple guilty of handling stolen goods and since they were both also charged with relapsing, she jailed them for five months each.

An appeal has been filed. Lawyers David Gatt and Arthur Azzopardi were defence counsel.