From Mr J. Hayes and Ms J. Knox-Hayes

My name is Jarrod Hayes. My wife and I are here in Malta celebrating our one-year anniversary. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a long-anticipated, relaxing and enjoyable vacation has turned into a nightmare.

We arrived in Malta on Tuesday, 25 September, and picked up our rental car at the airport. Because we could not yet check into our hotel, and knowing the reputation of artisans in Malta, we made our way to the Ta’ Qali craft village outside Rabat. We were nervous about leaving our belongings in the car, but took comfort from the presence of a paid official parking attendant whose vehicle was only a few metres away from ours. He diligently watched us shuffle through our luggage, taking out hats, sunglasses and so on.

We then paid him the 50 cents he said was required of all parkers and in exchange he gave us his word that he would watch our car and belongings for one hour.

Taking comfort from this we went into the village and indeed were stunned by the display and workmanship of the glass blowers and other craftsmen. We purchased several souvenirs, and returned to our vehicle, shortly before closing time, an hour after we had parked the car.

To our horror, not only was the parking attendant gone, but the window of the car had also been shattered and all of our belongings, including my laptop, my wife’s diving equipment and, of course, all of our clothing and toiletries were gone. Even my wife’s rosary had been stolen.

Our cell phone was in the laptop bag and we soon discovered from our phone company that the thief had made several phone calls to Maltese numbers, and the timing of the first indicated that the bags had been stolen within 15 minutes of the time we parked the car.

We rushed to Rabat police station to make a full report, and then went to have the car dusted for fingerprints. Unfortunately, we did not have personal theft insurance because we understood that Malta was a safe and secure country.

We have provided the police with a complete record of the multiple phone calls made from our stolen mobile immediately after the crime took place, but do not know that they have the capacity to investigate these fully.

You can imagine how difficult this has been for us. The financial toll has been significant. We are both graduate students who have had to work very hard both for the possessions that were stolen, and for the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary here. The emotional toll has also been overwhelming. Half of our vacation has been spent attempting to secure financial information (all of which was recorded in our laptop) and to find clothes and toiletries. What is perhaps most frustrating is the fact that we parked the vehicle at Ta’ Qali crafts village and left it unattended because a licensed and badge-wearing official was standing by and had given his guarantee that our possessions would be safe.

We want to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people, which it likely will, given the severely limited police resources available to investigate this sort of crime.

We are staying at the Grand Hotel in Gozo (2156 1615, room 408) until 2 October. Please contact us here if you can help us in any way.

Jarrod Hayes

Janelle Knox-Hayes

University of Southern California

University of Oxford