A 29-year-old woman was cleared of her involvement in a theft which led to her sacking from a supermarket after a court ruled that the key witness – the person who actually stole the goods – could not be believed.
Amanda Calleja worked at LIDL, and she had been sacked over the theft of five cameras which took place on the night of 27 April, 2012, when a staff party for LIDL employees was held at the Westin Dragonara Hotel.
During this staff party, the company’s management had organised a lottery for employees, and the five cameras were among the prizes that were to be handed out.
But the cameras were found to have gone missing, and Ms Calleja’s colleague, Jonathan Psaila, took them to her car, where the cameras were found hidden underneath the front seat. He claimed that Ms Calleja had told him to steal the cameras.
Ms Calleja strongly denied any involvement in the theft, stating that she had been smoking with a number of colleagues outside the hotel when Mr Psaila – who she had given a lift to – asked her for her car keys. She said that she handed over the keys without asking him why he wanted them, as she assumed that he simply wanted to retrieve the jacket.
The colleagues who were with her corroborated her version of events, but Mr Psaila – who had admitted to his own involvement in the theft – insisted in court that Ms Calleja had told him to steal the cameras and take them to her car.
But Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit observed that there were various inconsistencies in his testimony, noting how Mr Psaila admitted that he had gotten drunk but nevertheless insisted that he “clearly remembered” Ms Calleja’s alleged instructions to steal.
Mr Psaila had also claimed that he had won a prize during the lottery, but he had not: in fact, it was Ms Calleja who had won a prize, a sewing machine.
After noting that Mr Psaila’s version was not credible and that the prosecution presented no other evidence to back its case, Magistrate Stafrace Zammit cleared Ms Calleja of the charge.
Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted, while lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Ms Calleja.