Thieves jailed for total of 21 years over 2015 robbery spree

Two thieves have, between them, been jailed for a total of 21 years and had €48,000 confiscated after they were found guilty of a number of break-ins that occurred in 2015.

Antonella Vella, 34 of Fgura, and her partner Stephen Borg, 40 of Birkirkara, faced 29 charges which included eight counts of theft, two of attempted theft, eight counts of voluntary damage to property and breaching bail conditions. Borg was accused of breaching no less than four sets of bail conditions as well as a suspended sentence.

Everything from shoes to vacuum cleaners, jars of preserve to industrial cutting machines, fishing equipment, air compressors, horse harnesses and nail guns were stolen in the 2015 thieving spree.

Prosecuting police inspector Robert Vella had told the court how police had investigated a report of several garages being forced open in the same street. A suspicious looking man and woman were spotted in the area using a car whose registration was traced back to Borg.

The next day, the pair were arrested and many of the stolen objects were found in their possession, after a search of their properties.

Police had observed similarities in the modus operandi used in a number of other unsolved break-ins, leading them to believe that the accused were also responsible for them.

Borg had initially admitted to one burglary which took place in April 2015 because the stolen items were found inside his car. Another case of theft of five pairs of shoes was also pinned on the man after they were found in his possession.

Fingerprints and DNA evidence matching Borg were recovered from the stolen items from one crime scene. Fingerprints belonging to Vella were also found on the inside of one of the garages targeted by the pair.

The accused gave the police versions of who did what which often conflicted with each other’s. During one session, Borg told interrogators that all the crimes he had admitted responsibility for, he had committed with Antonella Vella, helpfully explaining that, “what I’m trying to say is that she did as much as I did.”

Borg had not admitted to all the thefts, but said that on occasion he would break into properties and ransack them.

When informed that he was under arrest, Borg had asked officers whether it was “about the theft from Qormi? That’s the only one I did.” This was because he had some of the stolen items in his car at the time. However a search of his residence recovered items stolen on other occasions from other paces. A stolen pair of shoes were found in Vella’s home.

Their guilt having been comprehensively established, the court turned its attention to punishment. It took into consideration the serious and repetitive nature of the crimes committed by the accused, their failure to obey the law, their criminal character “which knows no limits” and the other circumstances of the case.

“Society deserves protection from unscrupulous individuals like the accused who thought nothing of depriving people of the fruits of their hard work and diligence… instead of trying to live a productive life they decided to benefit off other people’s backs,” said the court.

“Instead of using the opportunities they were given by the courts over the years to reform themselves, they chose to carry on down the road that could lead them to the threshold of incarceration from one day to the next. That day has arrived today!”

The court sentenced Borg to 11 years and 6 months in prison, confiscating €28,000 from him. Vella was also jailed for 10 years and had €20,000 confiscated.