Two irregular immigrants were yesterday cleared of stealing a car after the prosecution not only failed to prove its case but also failed to prove that the two men had escaped from custody at the time of the commission of the crime.

Moussa Ahmed Ayoub, 25, and Ahmed Mohammed Addulkadir, 24, both from Somalia, were cleared of stealing a Datsun from Marsa on 11 June 2006 as well as several tools.

Handing down her judgement, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that the prosecution case was based solely on circumstantial evidence and that this evidence was ambiguous.

She said the court believed the version of the accused and therefore cleared them of all the charges brought against them.

Police Inspector Jesmond Borg prosecuted while Dr Richard Sladden and Dr Anthony Cutajar appeared for the accused.