A bus driver driving past his parked car close to the Marsa park and ride spotted a man stealing his car stereo and managed to catch him, a court was told.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how Lawrence Micallef saw 39-year-old Charles Sciberras, from Santa Luċija, trying to steal his car stereo last July 6. He stopped his bus and approached the car and found Mr Sciberras with the stereo and CDs in his hands. The police were called in and arrested the man.
Although Mr Sciberras had been charged with breaching the conditions of previous releases, the court was only given an unauthenticated copy of the judgments, leading to Mr Sciberras being cleared of such charges.
Handing down her judgment, the magistrate noted that Mr Sciberras had no less than 35 convictions on his criminal record. Despite previous punishments, that included a jail term, he had not changed his ways and made not even the slightest effort to rehabilitate. She therefore jailed him for 18 months.
Police Inspectors Jason Sultana and Joseph Agius prosecuted.