One of two men who had been charged over the theft of paintings - including a Caravaggio - from a judge's house was yesterday jailed for four years.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani cleared Joseph Portelli of stealing the paintings from the Valletta residence of Judge Giovanni Bonello but, following his admission, she found him guilty of handling the stolen works of art when he stored them in his garage.

On April 29, 2004, Mr Portelli, 34, of Birkirkara had been charged with stealing the paintings from the judge's house and causing over Lm500 damage to them earlier that month. Although he initially denied his involvement, on May, 27, 2004, he admitted to handing the stolen property but insisted that he was not involved in the theft.

On May 7 that year a second man - Ian Farrugia, 32, of Sta Venera - was charged in connection with the same theft.

During the compilation of evidence against Mr Portelli, Magistrate Padovani heard Police Inspector Michael Mallia explain how investigations evolved following instructions to carry out a search at Mr Portelli's Birkirkara residence.

When Mr Portelli was arrested, he initially denied knowledge of the paintings. However, during a meticulous search at his house and two garages the police noticed that a wall at the back of a garage had a different level of tar than the rest of the walls. When compared to other garages, the garage was also some two feet narrower.

As the wall sounded hollow, two bricks were removed and in the space between the two walls the police found the paintings that had been stolen from Judge Bonello's house.

Mr Portelli then led the police to his home and showed them where the Caravaggio painting, entitled Giovannino al fonte, was hidden. It was stored in a pink bed sheet in a space under a bed and he told them what he knew about the theft.

Mr Portelli denied stealing the paintings but told the police his brother Dennis, Charles Falzon and Mr Farrugia were involved. Inspector Mallia added that, as Mr Portelli had told him, when the men learnt that the police were on their track the four men met and decided they would remove the painting attributed to Caravaggio and destroy it or throw it away somewhere to get rid of the incriminating evidence.

Further investigations yielded fingerprints matching those of Mr Farrugia on a bag that was covering the stolen paintings.

On handing down judgement, Magistrate Padovani noted that Mr Portelli had admitted to handing the stolen paintings and insisted that he was not involved in the theft. She found him guilty of handling stolen property and damaging the paintings.

She noted that he was facing 11 years behind bars and, given the nature of the crime, she could not hand down a suspended jail term.

Police Inspectors Geoffrey Azzopardi, Carmelo Bartolo and Charles Magri prosecuted.

Lawyers Ian Farrugia and Philip Galea Farrugia appeared for Mr Portelli.