A man accused of stealing almost €4,000 worth of tools from a construction site in 2017 walked out of court a free man on Friday after a court found that prosecutors had failed to sufficiently prove his guilt.

Antoine Borg, 35, was found not guilty of having broken into a construction site in Mosta in January 2017 and stealing a stone cutter and other tools worth €3,753 in total.

Mr Borg had been charged after the owner of the stone cutter, Stefan Falzon, told police that he recognised a Ford Transit van which CCTV cameras had filmed during the heist.

The van’s number plate was not visible in the footage, but the van sported some distinctive features which appeared to tally with a Transit van owned by Mr Borg.

Police had also confiscated a dark blue jacket from Mr Borg’s home which appeared to be similar to a jacket worn by a man seen in the CCTV footage.

Mr Borg’s partner had testified during the case and said that Mr Borg had been recovering from a hospital operation during the time when the theft took place. At the time, she said, the van was being driven by another man, who was giving Mr Borg a lift to and from work.   

The court, presided by magistrate Audrey Demicoli, noted how there were evident differences between the Transit van shown in the CCTV footage and photos of that owned by Mr Borg. It also found that it could not rely on hearsay evidence provided in the case and that the fact that the van had not been reported stolen was not sufficient grounds to find Mr Borg guilty. 

It was the prosecution’s job to prove an accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the court said, and in this case that standard of proof had not been met.

It, therefore, acquitted the accused of all charges.

Lawyer Joe Giglio appeared on behalf of Mr Borg.