Conditional discharge for laptop thief

A 23-year-old man has been conditionally discharged by a court after he admitted to stealing a laptop from an electronics store in Valletta.

Mellieha resident Gabriel Giuseppe Munda from Italy was arraigned before magistrate Noel Bartolo on Tuesday morning. Police Inspectors Gabriel Micallef and Daryl Borg charged the man with theft, aggravated by the value of the item stolen.

The court heard how CCTV footage showed Munda taking the laptop off the shelf and walking out of the shop with it. He was later traced to Mellieha, where he was taken into custody, while still carrying the stolen laptop.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, appearing for the accused together with lawyer Jacob Magri, told the magistrate the accused had recently lost his job in the construction sector and was currently unemployed. The laptop had since been returned to its rightful owner, the court was told.

A plea of guilty was entered with the court being informed that the parties were jointly suggesting a conditional discharge.

Upholding the joint submissions, the court conditionally discharged the man for two years.