A man from Swatar was yesterday sentenced to 26 months in jail after a court found him guilty of stealing and misappropriating several items belonging to a man who at the time was serving time in jail.

Brian Pace, 30, was found guilty of stealing or taking illegal possession of several items belonging to Carmelo Borg, who at the time of the crimes between September and November 2008 was serving time in jail for a drug-related offence.

Mr Borg told Magistrate Doreen Clarke that Mr Pace had called him in jail and offered to take care of his belongings while he was in jail. Since he knew him, he trusted him and even gave him his bank cards, asking him to withdraw money from his bank accounts. He had given him the keys to his Mercedes and asked Mr Pace to drive it from the police depot to the prison and hand over the keys.

However, the car was never delivered and only some of the money withdrawn had been handed over.

Mr Borg eventually made contact with his brother, John, and asked him to check the padlock to his residence. The padlock had been changed and two laptops, a DVD player and television were missing. Also missing was a motorcycle which Mr Borg kept in the common area of the residence.

Moreover, Mr Borg claimed he had €60,000 in cash  the proceeds of the alleged sale of three buses  which he said were hidden under a gas cylinder and which had vanished, as had an unemployment benefit cheque.

The court noted that there was no evidence of the theft of this cash but was convinced about the theft of other items as these were found in Mr Pace’s possession.

On a charge related to the theft of a Peugeot, the court ruled that the fact that the accused had been seen driving through the area from where the car had been stolen did not constitute proof that he had stolen it, especially since he lived in the area.

The magistrate sentenced Mr Pace to 26 months in jail and ordered him to pay almost €800 in court expenses.