A man was yesterday sentenced to two and a half years in jail and his partner-in-crime was given a suspended sentence after they admitted to planning and staging an armed robbery at a gaming parlour in Żabbar.

Dave Delia, 20, from Cospicua, pleaded guilty to stealing €4,000 from the outlet in Triq is-Santwarju at about 9.30pm on New Year’s Eve.

His sister’s partner, Żabbar resident Jean Paul Vella, 26, who works at the Fair Play parlour as a gaming attendant, admitted his involvement in the crime.

Mr Delia and Mr Vella planned to stage the robbery on a day when the latter would be at work. On Thursday, Mr Delia stormed into the parlour, brandishing a toy gun and demanded money and Mr Vella handed over almost €4,000.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard Mr Delia admit to the robbery, being in possession of a fake pistol, driving without insurance cover, breaching a probation order and relapsing.

She jailed him for two and half years and fined him €2,300 after hearing that the stolen money had been returned.

Mr Vella, who was arraigned separately, pleaded guilty to being an accomplice in the crime. Unlike Mr Delia, Mr Vella had a clean criminal record, so the court opted for a two-year jail sentence suspended for four years.

Police Inspectors Fabian Fleri and Josric Mifsud prosecuted.

Lawyer Alessandro Lia appeared for the accused.