Two men yesterday confessed in court to stealing enough diesel to fill up 66 average-sized cars.

Crane driver Jesmond Vella, 28, from Rabat and his unemployed friend Joseph Cardona, 20, from Siġġiewi, admitted to stealing about €4,000 worth of fuel from a quarry in an area known as Ta’ l-Ibraġ in Siġġiewi last Saturday evening and over the previous two months. They carried the fuel in jerry cans.

Mr Vella also admitted to relapsing.

Defence lawyer José Herrera told Magistrate Doreen Clarke his client, Mr Cardona, was young and, so, handing down a suspended jail term would ruin him for the rest of his life.

Lawyer Luciano Busuttil said that although his client, Mr Vella, was charged with relapsing, he was not a career criminal and his convictions were actually Family Court related and traffic offences.

Dr Herrera said that even though the men were contesting the actual amount stolen, he would not formally file an objection on the matter in order to avoid lengthening the case unnecessarily.

The court placed Mr Vella on probation for three years and conditionally discharged Mr Cardona for two years.