A 23-year-old man born in Libya but who holds a Serbian passport today was jailed for two-and-a-half years for stealing a mobile phone during the operative time of a suspended jail term.
Yousef Kalifa admitted to stealing the Samsung Galaxy S6 from a tourist in St Julian’s on 11 July at about 4am. He was also charged with committing the crime during the operative time of an 18-month suspended jail term.
After filing his guilty plea the man asked the court to show mercy towards him.
"Please give me a chance. I was drunk," he said from the dock.
Magistrate Carol Peralta told the man that being drunk was no excuse.
"Next time don't drink as there is no excuse to wrong others," he said
The magistrate hailed the man for one year. He also ordered that the 18-month suspended jail term be brought into effect resulting in a total jail term of two-and-a-half years.