A man has been jailed for six years for a series of thefts, including the theft of a doctor's iPad at Mater Dei Hospital.

Anthony Borg, 37, got himself into trouble just four days after having been granted bail pending separate proceedings over a string of thefts which allegedly took place last July in the St Julian’s and St Paul’s Bay areas.

The police said told the court that on July 22, 2019 he stole an iPad, worth some €507, which a medical consultant had momentarily left unattended in a hospital corridor while having a quick word with a colleague nearby.

CCTV footage led to the identification of the accused and his mother, who were soon tracked down by investigators.

Borg was arrested at his home and the missing iPad was found lying on his mother’s kitchen counter. Police also found a t-shirt and shorts identical to those worn by the suspect in the footage.

Borg admitted he had been to hospital with his mother but denied stealing anything from the satchel. 

The woman subsequently tried to take the blame for the theft, saying she had suggested taking the satchel containing the iPad in the hope of finding some much-needed cash, explaining how she lived on social benefits and her resources were stretched to the limit because of her son’s drug addiction.

Being fond of gadgets, she had taken the iPad to play games, little knowing that it would be password-protected, the woman testified.

The court was told that investigators had Borg to a botched theft from a Mosta supermarket which had taken place the day before the Mater Dei incident.

A man, later identified as being Borg, had been stopped by security on his way out of the store and after failing to produce his receipt, had dropped his bag of groceries and rushed out.

The man managed to get away, but not before the security guard had snapped a photo of his car, later identifying the driver as the same person who had tried to spirit away three bags of groceries from the same store, a week before.

The court said that although the meat products, groceries and clothes were left behind by the runaway thief, the crime was committed once he removed the items off the shelves and walked past the cash point without paying.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella declared the accused guilty of the thefts, as well as for breaching bail conditions and a 3-year probation order in relation to an earlier theft conviction.

He was also declared guilty of relapsing.

The court thus handed down a total six-year effective jail term and ordered the confiscation of the €8,500 bail bond.

Inspector Mario Xiberras prosecuted.