A former employee of a car hire company has admitted in court to stealing three cars which ‘vanished’ but were later tracked down by his boss near his Cospicua home.

The three Hyundai vehicles had been rented out by the company but had not been returned.

On October 2, the suspicious employer after checking rental logs and CCTV footage, finally went to the residence of the employee, Lorvin Micallef, 34, and spotted two of the missing cars.

The police were called in and Micallef cooperated with investigators, handing over the keys of the cars, prosecuting Inspector Leeroy Balzan Engerer told the court.

He also assisted investigators in tracking down the third vehicle.

Micallef pleaded guilty to theft.

His lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, requested a pre-sentencing report drawn up by a probation and parole officer.

That request was upheld by Magistrate Noel Bartolo, who also upheld a request for bail on condition that the accused did not approach any of the prosecution witnesses.

Micallef was ordered to sign the bail book twice weekly, to abide by a curfew between 10pm and 6am against a personal guarantee of €1,000.

The court deferred the case for judgment next month.