An accomplice in a jewellery theft from a private residence in Mellieħa three years ago, has been sent to prison for eight months after he was found guilty in spite of claiming he had simply been accompanying a friend on an errand and had no finger in the pie.

Francis Formosa, 46, from Burmarrad, was accused of complicity in the coup which had taken place on July 8, 2014 towards midday from a home in Triq il-Qortin.

Following a call to the police control room, two Rapid Intervention Unit officers were dispatched to the site where they spotted a red Isuzu Gemini, with the two suspects inside, the accused seated behind the wheel. As the officers continued to roam the area, they noticed Mr Formosa walking out from behind some trees. Upon being questioned, the man said that he had needed to answer nature’s call.

Just then, the man’s companion, Josef Buttigieg, from Bkara, was spotted jumping over a low wall whilst discarding a bag which, upon retrieval turned out to be packed with jewellery.

The two men were arrested and charged separately. Mr Formosa’s accomplice had admitted to the theft and had been jailed for two years.

The court, hearing Mr Formosa’s case, observed that the versions given by the alleged accomplices were not credible. The accused had insisted that he had got a lift to St Paul's Bay from his friend to sign the bail book at the Qawra Police Station. He had then accompanied his friend to Mellieħa on a personal errand concerning some rental payment.

However, the court, presided over by Magistrate Josette Demicoli, questioned why the accused had been seated behind the wheel when he was supposed to have been a passenger. On the basis of the evidence produced, the court was not convinced that the accused was not involved in the theft, as had been alleged by his companion under oath.

The court concluded that the accused had indeed been waiting in the getaway car while his friend broke into the residence. The victim had actually testified that she had noted the same red vehicle hovering around the area a few days before the break in.

The court declared the accused guilty of complicity in the aggravated theft. It ordered him to pay within three years court expert fees amounting to €601.68.

Inspectors Maurice Curmi and Arthur Mercieca prosecuted.