A man was on Thursday given a suspended sentence after he admitted stealing a number of credit cards and defrauding three shops.

Matea Jugovic, a 24-year old Serb, filed an early guilty plea upon his arraignment over charges of credit card theft to the detriment of eight individuals and of having used such cards to purchase computer equipment.

The court, presided over by magistrate Francesco Depasquale, heard the prosecution explain how some of the items had been returned and that the accused had cooperated with investigators.

Defence lawyers Franco Debono and David Harding pointed out that their client had a clean criminal record, had filed an early guilty plea and had returned whatever could have been returned.

In view of these submissions and the accused’s admission, the court declared him guilty, and gave him a one-year jail term suspended for three years. It also placed him under a three-year supervision order and warned him to abide by orders given by the supervising officer who would report on his progress every six months.

“Should I not hear good news, I’ll have to deal with your judgment again,” was the court’s final warning.

Inspector Christina Delia prosecuted.