Man gets seven-month sentence after stealing iPhone

A court has handed down an effective seven month prison sentence to a Romanian man who admitted to stealing a top-of-the-range iPhone from a Paceville nightclub, saying that the punishment must be a deterrent to would-be thieves.
 
Earlier this month, Police Inspectors John Spiteri and Matthew Spagnol had accused 33 year-old Lucian Grecu of stealing an iPhone 6 from Havana nightclub in Paceville, in the early hours of the morning of the 27th of June this year. Grecu had pleaded guilty to the charges.
 
Magistrate Ian Farrugia noted the upward trend in thefts of mobile devices and similar personal belongings from clubs in Malta’s entertainment district and its surrounding areas and was determined to make it clear that such thefts would be dealt with severely by the courts.
 
"The message should be very clear to anybody who commits such crimes against innocent people who were just out for a night of fun. The punishment must convey a clear message," the magistrate said.

In its considerations on punishment, the court took note of Grecu’s early admission as well as his assistance in police investigations- which had resulted in the stolen phone being recovered from an accomplice, now also facing criminal proceedings- as mitigating factors and handed down a seven-month custodial sentence.