A man who escaped from a Tunisian jail is back in prison, this time in Malta, after he admitted to circulating and using counterfeit euro notes in two hotels and several shops over the past few months.

Thomas Camilleri, a 23-year-old drug addict from Gżira, was jailed for three-and-a-half years by Magistrate Franco Depasquale after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the shops, stealing a wallet containing €200 in cash and withdrawing €180 from the credit cards he found inside.

Mr Camilleri, a relapser, also pleaded guilty to being in possession of an unlicensed weapon.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla said Mr Camilleri was arrested after the police received 16 reports about the fake cash.

He added that the accused had a drug problem and needed help.

In jailing him, Magistrate Depasquale told him he was giving him time to reform and get his life back on the right track.

Mr Camilleri was arrested along with a friend, Glenn Paul Xuereb, in Tunisia in July 2010 after they were caught attempting to smuggle 70 kilograms of cannabis to Malta.

They escaped from jail alongside several other inmates during the revolution last year.