Silvio Pace, 48, from Hamrun has been handed a one-year suspended jail term and ordered to return €4,000 stolen from an apartment used by monks in Xemxija.

The man broke into the apartment on March 25.

One of the monks testified in court how on the morning of the incident, at around 7.30am, while walking towards the apartment, he had noted a blue vehicle parked by the roadside. He then spotted a man making his way over the railing of a veranda which led to the room of one of the monks.

Upon sensing the presence of the onlooker, the intruder has sprinted off. The monks later noted the missing cash and filed a police report.

Mr Pace admitted the theft. 

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona condemned him to a jail term of one year suspended for two years. He was also ordered to return the €4,000 to the monks.

Inspector Nicholas Vella prosecuted.

Lawyer Noel Bianco was defence counsel.

Mr Pace is the father of Brandon, the young victim of last month's fatal stabbing incident in Giovanni Barbara Street, Hamrun.