A Birkirkara man was yesterday jailed for four years after he was found guilty of being in possession of a number of paintings, including one painted by Caravaggio, stolen from the Mr Justice Giovanni Bonello’s house in Valletta.

Joseph Portelli, 34, was found guilty of being in possession of the stolen painting on 5 April 2005 after police found them stored in his garage in Birkirkara. At first, Portelli denied that he had the painting, but later in the proceedings, he had admitted that he had the paintings.

Portelli always denied that he was involved in the theft of the paintings and, in fact, he was cleared of their theft. He had told police of three people who he knew were involved, including his own brother.

Handing down her judgement, magistrate Jacqueline Padovani said she could not hand down a suspended sentence for a crime which carried a maximum of 11 years in jail. However, she said she considered that Portelli had admitted that he had the stolen paintings.

She said that following his admission, the court had no option but find him guilty of the charge. She also found him guilty of causing more than Lm500 in damages to the paintings. She jailed him for a period of four years.

Police inspector Jeffrey Azzopardi prosecuted while Dr Philip Galea Farrugia appeared for the defendant who is expected to appeal the decision.