A man was today jailed for 26 months after he was found guilty of stealing several items belonging to a prison inmate.

Brian Pace, 30, of Swatar faced a total of ten charges but was cleared of most of them, including one accusing him of stealing €60,000 in cash from the inmate’s house.

He was convicted of stealing a motorcycle and other items from a Żabbar home, selling a car that did not belong to him and stealing a social security cheque. He was, however, cleared of cashing the cheque and of stealing the money.

He was also cleared of stealing a Peugeot Partner after the prosecution relied only on circumstantial evidence to prove its charge - trying to convince the court that he had stolen it because he was usually seen in that street.

The court heard how inmate Carmelo Borg had told Mr Pace to withdraw money from his bank accounts. In doing so, Mr Borg realised that he was given far less than what had been withdrawn.

Mr Borg also alleged that €60,000 in cash – money he made from selling three buses – had vanished. The money, he said, had been kept hidden under a gas cylinder.

However, the court did not find evidence linking Mr Pace to this theft. The theft of other items that had gone missing from Mr Borg’s house, including a motorcycle, two laptops, a TV and a DVD player, had been proved as the items were found in Mr Pace’s possession.

Police Inspectors Elton Taliana and Fabian Fleri prosecuted.