Romanians admit to jewellery theft

Two Romanian men were yesterday charged over a jewellery theft that took place in Paceville on Sunday.

Mircea Copalea, 33, and Marcel Muntianu, 18, were charged with committing the theft from a Bay Street Complex shop before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale.

They had been caught on CCTV stealing a watch from the Super Gold Jewellers store.

Owner Anton Ciantar had said that the two men spoke in Italian. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges.

Inspector Trevor Micallef, prosecuting, said the watch, still in its packaging, had been recovered. The men were arrested after they were identified by Sergeant Glenn Sammut, who investigated the robbery.

Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia, defending, said his clients had come to Malta to find work. They will be returning to Romania if they do not manage to find a job. Copalea came to Malta around a month and a half ago while Muntianu had been here for 10 days.

Magistrate Depasquale said he had two options: To either send the men to prison or give them a suspended sentence. “Give me a reason to give you a suspended sentence,” he said.

The accused apologised and expressed their intention to leave Malta at the first opportunity.

Taking this, as well as the fact that the stolen watch had been recovered, into consideration, the court handed down a two year prison sentence, which was suspended for four years. The magistrate pointed out that the sentence applied in all EU countries.