A man who used his tow truck to steal eight cars was jailed for nine months today.

A court heard how Renald Barbara, 31 of Rabat, had towed away the cars in Pieta', Senglea, Paola, Qormi and other localities.

Four of the vehicles were reported missing by their owners while the other four had been abandoned on the roads and local councils had placed notices on them asking the owners to remove them.

The thefts took place between June and this month.

Barbara admitted selling all the cars for scrap.

He also admitted relapsing.