Victor and Manuel Scerri, who were given two years suspended sentence for four years after having stolen €88,000 worth of cigarettes from their employer, have failed to pay their former employer for the stolen goods, thus breaching a court order.

The two men were employed with Antonio Piscopo Wines and Spirits, and would pack 200 cigarette cartons into boxes before loading them into their vehicles through the back door of the shop.

In the court case today, his former employer had filed a complaint arguing that he had not been paid. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale brought into force the suspended jail term, effectively jailing them for two years each.

The original crime saw a third person who had assisted in the theft, however he had paid the money owed.