A self-confessed thief who raided 10 service stations over a three-month thieving rampage, was jailed for seven years after the court took note of several opportunities the accused had already cast aside and wasted.
Matthew Portelli, 32, was targeted by criminal prosecution as one of a gang of thieves who, over a three-month span back in 2011, had targeted 10 service stations, a tools store and two vehicles in various localities around Malta.
The gang were also allegedly behind an arson attack upon one of the stolen vehicles, a Ford Transit, which had been employed in one of their raids and which was subsequently set on fire in Wied is-Sewda, Qormi.
The culprits were ultimately arrested and prosecuted, with proceedings against Mr Portelli being assigned in November 2018 to another Magistrates’ Court.
During a hearing in January, the accused had registered an admission to all the charges, running into some six pages, save for three which specifically linked him to the arson attack on the stolen van, the theft of the registration plates fixed to the van as well the intention to destroy the material traces of a crime.
In the course of proceedings, another member of the gang, Carmel Hartley, testified that neither he nor Mr Portelli had anything to do with the arson. “That was a decision taken by Glen Debattista. [The latter] and Ryan had set it on fire… We were present and saw him sprinkle petrol. It was at that moment that we left,” the man had explained.
The court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, observed that there was no reason why it should not believe the version of the man who “had not hesitated when shouldering responsibility nor when implicating the accused”.
Moreover, this version had been confirmed by the Debattista duo, with Ryan claiming that although “the team always stuck together,” he had been the one to set the van on fire.
The court also observed that no proof had been put forward linking the accused to preparatory acts leading to the arson.
“Nowhere was there proof of any common design linking the accused to the perpetrators of the crime,” noted the court, further pointing out that there had been no circumstantial evidence implicating him in that particular crime.
When meting out punishment, the court took note of various factors, both against as well as in favour of the accused, observing, in the first place, how the man had gone on a thieving rampage over a three-month span, targeting petrol stations and vehicles.
The court also noted that the accused manifested an unruly character and had wasted several opportunities for reform, all chances being “cast aside and dwindling into nothing”.
Indeed, pending proceedings, the man had faced fresh arraignment over separate theft-related charges, thus appearing to confirm the findings of a social enquiry report which indicated that he showed no sign of reform.
On the other hand, the court took note of the intervals when no progress had been registered when proceedings were underway before a different court.
It was also observed that the victims had since been reimbursed by insurance firms.
In the light of all this and upon the accused’s own admission, registered “at the very last stages of the proceedings”, the court declared him guilty and condemned him to a seven-year effective jail term.
The court ordered the forfeiture of his €5,000 bail bond, making him also fork out €1,662.70 by way of court expert expenses.