A betting company employee who admitted to having misappropriated over €5,000 worth of betting slips was handed a suspended sentence after admitting to the charges on Friday afternoon.

Luca Celotto, 21, from Sanremo, Italy was charged with misappropriation and fraud after helping himself to the betting tickets and tampering with reconciliations to cover up his tracks.

Prosecuting Inspector Roderick Agius explained how later checks by the company, backed up by an internal investigation which had found incriminating CCTV, had pointed at the accused as the suspect.

The man admitted to his wrongdoing upon arraignment, his legal aid lawyer pointing out that the man had cooperated fully with investigators and had undertaken to reimburse his former employer the full sum of €5,112.

In fact, he had already paid €300 and his father would settle the remaining balance, the lawyer explained, while her client wept at the dock.

Upon the accused’s own admission, the court, presided over by magistrate Charmaine Galea, declared him guilty and condemned him to a 20-month jail term suspended for two years, ordering him to refund the money within 48 hours.