A motorist had the unusual experience last week of finding other people's belongings stored in his car in Buġibba, where he parked for a few hours.

The incident was revealed in court, where police explained that a Bulgarian couple stored their belongings in the car after having been evicted from a hotel.

Plamen Goralov, a 56-year-old builder and Penka Konstantinova, 54, were arrested after the car owner kept watch and spotted them taking out some of the items from the car.

Prosecuting inspector George Frendo said the car owner had reported that his vehicle had been broken into and damaged. 

But rather than finding out that items were stolen from it, he realised there were new contents.

The man had explained to the police how he had parked his car in Triq Port Ruman for some hours.

But when he returned later that evening, he found some items inside the car which were not his. He also noticed traces of blood inside the vehicle, along with damage.

Scene of crime officers were roped in to lift samples from the car, while investigations kicked off to track down the culprits.

Meanwhile, the car owner kept a lookout and spotted the couple trying to retrieve some items from the vehicle.

He alerted the police and the two suspects were arrested.

Under interrogation, Goralov admitted responsibility for the damage, explaining that he and his partner had nowhere to store their possessions after the hotel they were staying at gave them notice to move out.

He got inside the car and smashed the glass after feeling too hot, the man told police.

Penka Konstantinova chose not to answer some of the questions.

After consulting their legal aid lawyer, Martin Matthew Farrugia, at some length, the couple pleaded guilty to the solitary charge of wilful damage to third-party property.

The prosecution pointed out that the two had a clean record sheet, except for a minor infringement by the man back in 1993. A suspended sentence would be adequate punishment, however, it was important for the victim to be reimbursed. 

The defence lawyer added that both had filed an early guilty plea, had cooperated fully and the man had shown remorse.

Magistrate Lara Lanfranco condemned each of the accused to a nine-month jail term suspended for 18 months and ordered them to reimburse the victim within six months in terms of law, by means of monthly instalments.