A young man alone at home sneaked out of his house through the back door when three men broke in, but he managed to get a good look at one of them and later identified him to the police.

The burglar, William Agius, was yesterday given a suspended jail term for stealing coins worth more than €2,300 from a Luqa house on February 28, 2010, at about 1.30pm.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit heard that the young man, William Bondin, was at home that afternoon after his parents had gone out.

He went to tell his cousin he suspected burglars

Sometime after they left, he heard the main door slam and his dogs started barking.

He left by the back door and went to his cousin’s house to tell him he suspected there were burglars at home.

The two went to have a look and, when they peered into the living room, they saw a man carrying a white bag.

Two identification parades were held and in both, Mr Bondin recognised the man as being the accused.

Witnesses had also taken note of the number of the getaway car and it later resulted that it was registered in Mr Agius’s name.

However, Mr Agius insisted that his car was being used by his girlfriend’s brother and he was having lunch at his mother’s house at the time of the burglary. His mother confirmed this.

However, a bag of coins was found in Mr Agius’s home.

The defence lawyers, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, argued that the girlfriend’s brother resembled Mr Agius and the police had failed to include him in the identification parade.

The court said that this was a shortcoming on the part of the prosecution.

However, the court felt that there was enough evidence to find Mr Agius guilty.

Police Inspector Frans Micallef prosecuted.