A man has been cleared of stealing a wallet from a car parked in Msida in 2001 after a magistrate ruled that fingerprints that matched a man's thumb was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri was ruling in a case against Jonathan Mizzi, 33, from Birkirkara, who was charged with committing the theft from a Hyundai Accent on the night of October 25, 2001. The wallet contained €35.

The court heard how Mr Mizzi from the outset denied his involvement in the theft, explaining that he lived in the same street where the car was parked because he was living with his mother at the time. He could not explain how two fingerprints found on the car's door matched his right thumb.

He told the police during his interrogation that he was a cocaine addict and had been involved in various thefts of cars and was also involved in a hold-up.
Magistrate Camilleri noted that aside from the criminal record, no one had seen Mr Mizzi committing the theft and that these prints were the only evidence on which the prosecution based the entire case.

He upheld the arguments of defence counsel Edward Gatt that according to law, circumstantial evidence alone was not enough to secure a conviction, unless it was corroborated with other evidence. For these reasons, the magistrate cleared the man of the charges brought against him.
Police Inspector Darren Buhagiar prosecuted.