Man with criminal record going back to 1975 jailed for stealing bracelet, suitcases

George Farrugia known as ic-Capalaw has been jailed for five years for the aggravated theft of a gold bracelet from an elderly woman and holding her against her will. Farrugia was also found guilty of stealing two suitcases from a tourist and relapsing.

Farrugia hit the headlines during his arraignment last month, when he spewed a barrage of unrepeatable language at magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, for which he was fined €4000 and which he later attempted to justify on the grounds that he was a Satanist.

During that sitting, Farrugia had also admitted the charges.

In her deliberations on punishment, magistrate Frendo Dimech noted the man had a criminal record dating back to 1975 in which “one is faced with a wide and animated variety of the crimes considered, amongst other things, in the Criminal Code.”

His early admission and cooperation with police was taken into account, with the court noting that on the other hand jurisprudence had established that these did not automatically translate into a mitigation in punishment.

The court said it could not ignore the fact that the crimes had been committed against an elderly woman, offences which in recent years had been the subject of legal amendments to strengthen the protection of this vulnerable segment of society. The legislator’s aim was to impose harsh punishments on conduct “so repulsive and shameful,” she said, commenting that the elderly deserved only respect and help not being taken advantage of and deserved to live without fear. Noting that the punishment for the crimes as laid down in the law was between 4 and 9 years imprisonment, the court, having taken into account all the circumstances of the case, jailed Farrugia for 5 years. The court also placed him under a Treatment Order for 3 years, asking the Director of Corradino Correctional Facility to consider him for drug rehabilitation if there is “even a remote chance” of him overcoming his drug habit.

Inspectors Saviour Baldacchino and Daryl Borg prosecuted.