Citizen's arrest leads to successful conviction

A 32-year-old man from Tripoli, who broke into an apartment in St. Julian’s last year, has been jailed for 16 months and had the term of a pending suspended sentence extended by a court.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke found Fisel Mofth Abusina guilty of stealing €900 in cash and a mobile phone from an apartment in Dragonara Road last August, during the operative period of a suspended sentence.

The man who lived there, Negoi Valentin, told the court how he had realised that someone had broken into his apartment as soon as he returned. Everything was on the floor, said the tenant, adding that he then noticed that his mobile phone and the cash he kept at home were also missing.

Together with his roommates, Valentin had gone to inform the security guard and check if he had seen anything amiss, but on their return found that the thief had decided to pay the flat a second visit, much to their surprise. The men detained the thief until the police arrived and arrested him.

Abusina denied stealing anything, but conceded that he had gone to the apartment on two occasions, saying that he had been drinking with a group of friends nearby and had visited what he thought was his friend’s second floor apartment to use the bathroom.

Magistrate Clarke was not convinced, however, noting discrepancies in the versions of events he had given police during his interrogation and that which he had testified to in court.

The Libyan’s fate was sealed by CCTV footage of the accused and another man attempting to force open the door to an apartment on the third floor. 

Abusina was found guilty, sentenced to 16 months in jail and ordered to pay €956 in court expenses.

In addition, the court extended a three-year suspended jail term to which he had been sentenced last June.