A young waiter who was caught hiding inside a wardrobe when police searched his home, was granted bail pending sentencing over a string of thefts from Cottonera boutique hotels on Saturday.

Redent Azzopardi, a 21-year-old Cospicua resident, was escorted to court on Saturday after being tracked down as the suspect behind a number of thefts that took place over a three-day span earlier this week. 

Police received a report from the management of a boutique hotel about a number of items that had gone missing from the premises. 

A close look at the CCTV footage from the area placed investigators on the tracks of a suspect who was seen entering the hotel some nine hours earlier.

Similar reports from other commercial establishments around the harbour area were lodged.

Working on surveillance cameras from the sites of the suspected thefts, police identified the same suspect and set about trying to track him down.

When police knocked at the door of Azzopardi's family home, officers were informed the youth was not there. But after insisting on searching the residence, the policemen discovered the suspect, hiding inside a wardrobe.

He was arrested.

Cash, televisions among items reported stolen

On Saturday, Azzopardi, who had no previous brushes with the law, was charged with various aggravated thefts.

The court heard how on November 5, it was reported that an iPhone 12 model had gone missing from a Vittoriosa boutique hotel. 

The following day, another boutique hotel at Cospicua reported that a cash box, containing €100, had gone missing.

Another hotel in the locality reported the theft of several items during the night of November 7.

Four television sets, a kettle, a hair dryer, a clothes iron, a microwave oven, a printer, bedsheets, and towels were among the items reported stolen.

The following day, the boutique hotel targeted in the €100 theft, again reported that another €130 had been taken from the cash box.

That same day, the owner of a Valletta beauty salon reported that €500 and keys had disappeared.

Upon arraignment, the youth registered an admission which he confirmed after being granted time to reconsider and consult his lawyers.

The court was told that the accused had a drug problem.

For that reason, his lawyers, Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb requested the court to order a pre-sentencing report as well as supervision under bail conditions so as to help the young offender get his life back on track.

In view of that early guilty plea, the prosecution did not object to bail as long as the court imposed adequate conditions.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella upheld the requests and granted bail pending sentencing against a deposit of €600, a personal guarantee of €10,000, signing the bail book daily and under a curfew between 7.30pm and 5.30am.

AG lawyer Alessia Schembri and Inspector Gabriel Kitcher prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.