A man bearing a Maltese identity card who has no fixed address and roams the streets was condemned to a jail term of five months for stealing a luggage bag full of personal items belonging to a guest at Le Meridien Hotel in St Julians.

Kiflom Habtoum was found guilty of having, on October 12, 2016, at around 10.30pm entered the hotel and made off with a grey luggage bag containing a Lenovo laptop belonging to Easyjet Ltd, several chargers and various items of designer wear.

The court, presided by magistrate Doreen Clarke, observed that a couple of days before the alleged theft the accused had aroused the suspicion of the security personnel at the hotel, who had ordered him to leave the premises.

Viewing CCTV footage after the reported theft, the head of security at Le Meridien had caught the accused dragging a luggage bag along the corridor towards the lift on the same floor where the robbed guest was residing. The accused was recognised as the person who had been sent away by the hotel personnel some time earlier.

A hotel employee who happened to be driving through Sliema the day after the theft chanced upon the accused, the court was told. The police were alerted and the man was arrested.

During interrogation, the accused admitted that he had taken the items but insisted that these belonged to a Jamaican friend of his called David who was staying at the hotel. The man led the police to the place where he slept and where all the stolen items were actually discovered.

The court declared the accused guilty of aggravated theft and of having led an idle and vagrant life. The accused was also fined €1,000.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol prosecuted.

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