A Moroccan man who is the first person to be convicted for New Year's Eve crimes in the German city of Cologne has been given a six-month suspended sentence for stealing a camera and cellphone and possessing drugs.

The 23-year-old asylum seeker also was fined 100 euros ($110) by the Cologne district court, the court said.

The defendant stole a cellphone from a woman as she photographed the city's cathedral. The 20-year-old didn't see who had stolen the phone but caught him after an Afghan refugee who had witnessed the theft pointed him out. The man apologized to her at Wednesday's brief trial.

Police found a small quantity of amphetamines in one of the man's socks after he was arrested.

The spate of thefts and assaults on women outside Cologne's main station, blamed largely on foreigners, caused public uproar as Germany deals with a huge influx of migrants. More than 1,000 criminal complaints were filed, over 400 of those alleging crimes of a sexual nature.

Neither of the two trials scheduled in Cologne on Wednesday involves allegations of sexual assaults.

In a separate case being heard later in the day, a 22-year-old Tunisian and an 18-year-old Moroccan are charged with stealing a camera from a man.

Names have not been released in accordance with German privacy laws