A man who stole laptops, cash, a car and other items in a four-week stealing spree earlier this year has been handed a six-year jail term. 

 

Floyd Attard, 32, from Senglea, had originally denied his involvement in the seven thefts which had targeted properties in Birkirkara, Paola, Qormi and Zebbug. 

During his arraignment, the man had pleaded not guilty to 7 charges of aggravated theft, 4 charges of voluntary damage to third party property, besides other charges related to handling stolen goods, tampering with vehicle license plates and driving a car without a licence or any insurance cover.

However, last week Mr Attard changed his plea to one of guilt, the court observed, noting that the man had past convictions for theft and a problem with drug addiction.

Upon this admission the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, declared the accused guilty and condemned him to a jail term of six years after observing that he “did not hesitate to steal whatever he felt like to finance his drug addiction.”

The accused was further handed a one-year driving ban and ordered to foot the bill for court expenses which exceeded €1,733.

The court recommended that the Director of Prisons was to provide the accused with all necessary help to battle his drug problem.

Inspector James Grech prosecuted.

Lawyer Mario Mifsud was defence counsel.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.