A young man has been handed a 26-month jail term after admitting to theft from nine vehicles over a three-day span, despite not remembering actually stealing items from the cars.

Ethiopian-born Romi Yohannes, 21, who lives in Ħamrun, wiped away tears as his legal aid lawyer and interpreter explained the consequences of that admission to the string of thefts.

Most of the stolen items, except for the cash, have been retrieved. 

Prosecuting Inspector Jean Paul Attard told the court that reports of thefts from cars in Swieqi and Pembroke had "poured in" at the St Julian’s police station over the past two days.

On Thursday, an anonymous caller flagged the presence of a person wearing light-coloured clothes, lurking near cars in that area. Some car alarms had also gone off.

Officers headed to the site and found a man who appeared to fit the description given by the anonymous caller. However, he was wearing a black sleeveless jacket.

That information, coupled with CCTV footage, led police to arrest the suspect who was allegedly caught “in the act".

On Friday the youth pleaded guilty to the various thefts and attempted thefts of personal belongings including clothes, electronic equipment and cash. 

Court was told that one of the car owners had found a bagful of items on his front porch. After handing them over to the police, those items turned out to have been reported stolen by another person whose vehicle had also been targeted. 

The accused sniffled and wiped away his tears as the court granted him time to reconsider his guilty plea, which he subsequently confirmed.

When making submissions on punishment the prosecutor explained that the youth had an addiction to synthetic drugs and needed help to kick the habit. 

He had fully cooperated and most of the stolen items had been recovered. However, an effective jail term would ensure that the accused got all the help he needed.

Inspector Attard said that the accused needed help to “become better suited for society, but couldn’t do it alone".

Defence lawyer Leontine Calleja thanked the prosecutor for such a “humane approach” and confirmed that the accused's drug problem was so big that he had no recollection of the wrong he had done. 

However, he had pleaded guilty at a very early stage and was also a first-time offender.

Those factors were all taken into consideration by the court, presided over by magistrate Noel Bartolo, who condemned the youth to a 26-month jail term, recommending that he is given all necessary help in prison.