CCTV footage has led police to a thief who targeted petrol stations in the South of Malta, a court has heard.

This emerged as 26 year-old Dylan Spiteri from Ghaxaq pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated theft and criminal damage before magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras.

Inspector Eman Hayman told the court that a number of reports of thefts from petrol stations in Paola, Zabbar, Zejtun and Ghaxaq had been received in September and October. CCTV footage led police to the accused, who was clearly identified from it. Spiteri had admitted to the police that it was him, the inspector said.

His lawyers, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri said the man came from a good family and had fallen into bad habits, ending up using drugs. He had, coincidentally, been going to voluntarily start a drug rehabilitation programme tomorrow, Debono said.

The court ordered that a presentencing report to be drawn up, in order to see if he was motivated enough to undergo rehab. “If you’re wasting my time, I will act differently,” said the court. “Just because you would be given probation doesn’t mean you got off lightly. You can still go to prison if you breach it.”

He was granted bail pending a presentencing report against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €3,000 on condition that he observe a curfew and sign a bail book three times a week.