Shone Agius, 42, from Birkirkara, has been sentenced to 35 months in jail after a court found him guilty of stealing a briefcase from a car in 2005.

The court heard that the theft from a parked car took place in Mrabat Street, Sliema on November 23, 2005.

The case took so long to be heard because Mr Agius failed to appear in court and could not be traced by the police between 2007 and 2012.

When the charges against Mr Agius were finally read out in court, and after another long disappearance, Mr Agius admitted to them.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman turned a two-year suspended sentence into an effective one and added a further 11 months’ jail term for the theft.

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