A court today sentenced Antonio Andolfo, a Sicilian man from Catania, to 21 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to a theft from a shop on Old Bakery Street in Valletta.

He stole cash and cheques from Fresh Direct, a shop owned by Charmaine Kitcher.

Mr Andolfo had been given a six-month jail term suspended for four years after he pleaded guilty on 6 September 2016 to drug charges.

Inspector Daryl Borg, who was leading the prosecution, told the court that when the police officers approached the man in Old Bakery Street to ask if he needed something, he immediately ran off. When he was apprehended, Mr Borg said, they found a balaclava and a bag containing items stolen from the shop.

Mr Adolfo claimed that he could not remember what had happened.

“If the police caught me, I’m guilty,” he said.

The court, which was presided over by Magistrate Josette Demicoli, sentenced the man to the 21 month prison sentence for violating the conditions of his suspended sentence by committing the theft.

Mr Andolfo was resented by Dr Mark Mifsud Cutajar.