A Baby Jesus collector with an eye for expensive models could simply not resist the temptation to steal one from a Christian doctrine centre when he failed to find one like it.

Johan Portelli, 26 of Birkikara, took the €300 statue from the Christian doctrine centre in Victory Road in his hometown on December 22 last year. Police Inspector Kevin Farrugia told a court yesterday that he managed to track the thief down and he admitted to carrying out the crime.

Mr Portelli collected Baby Jesus statues and had searched high and low for another one of the same model but failed, the inspector said.

In court, the accused admitted to the theft, to handling stolen property and to damaging the statue when he ran off with it.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke took into consideration the fact that he filed a guilty plea at an early stage of the proceedings and that, even though he had a criminal record, this was not alarming.

She also noted that the statue had been returned to its rightful owner, before conditionally discharging Mr Vassallo for one year.