A man with a history of criminal offences was jailed for four years yesterday for ripping gold necklaces from the necks of two elderly sisters as they were returning home from church in Mellieħa two years ago.

The women, aged 79 and 82, saw Simon Camilleri, 48, from Cospicua at the bottom of some steps, the court heard.

Wearing dark sunglasses, a white shirt and a baseball cap, he ran past them and as he did so snatched the gold necklaces they were wearing. He then got into a car and sped off.

The sisters screamed and a passerby took note of the car’s registration number.

The theft took place on November 18, 2012.

Mr Camilleri at first denied that he was in Mellieħa on the day in question but then changed his version and said he had gone there to meet a woman, whom he failed to identify.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera found Mr Camilleri guilty of robbing the sisters, threatening them, breaching bail conditions and relapsing.

She said the court had no doubt about the man’s involvement in the case, adding that he had been given several chances to get his life back on the right track but had wasted them all.

She therefore jailed him for four years.

Police Inspectors Carlos Cordina and Gabriel Micallef prosecuted.