Man with 103-page criminal record remanded in custody over theft charges
Serial offender accused of nine counts of theft from vehicles and breaching bail
A serial offender with a criminal record 103-pages long has been remanded in custody after being accused of nine counts of theft from vehicles and breaching bail.
Police Inspector Ritienne Gauci and Prosecutor Claire Sammut arraigned 40-year-old Stefan Cutajar from Xemxija on Thursday before Magistrate Rachel Montebello. Cutajar was charged with breaking into and stealing from nine different vehicles, which had been parked in various localities.
The court was told that CCTV footage collected as part of the investigations into the break-ins had identified several people, one of whom was Cutajar.
He was arrested on September 7 upon his return from Sicily and had spent the next few days in hospital, being treated for an unspecified ailment. He had been granted police bail during that time and was rearrested after his discharge from hospital.
“Cutajar you are charged with nine thefts in all, as well as with breaching your bail conditions. These are serious charges, you have a lawyer to assist you and you may remain silent,” explained the magistrate before asking the defendant how he wanted to reply to the charges.
A not guilty plea was filed and defence lawyer Amadeus Cachia requested that the defendant be released on bail.
The prosecution objected to that request, describing it as being premature as the victims, one of whom had confronted him during the commission of the crime, had not yet testified.
Militating against his release was the fact that he was already on bail, had gone to the police station an hour later than ordered to and hadn’t provided an address to the police.
There was also the issue of Cutajar’s 103-page criminal record.
Cachia denied that there had been any confrontation between the defendant and the victims. The lawyer conceded that Cutajar did have “a past and present problem with drug abuse” and explained that pending the outcome of an appeal in a separate case, he had been permitted by the courts to travel to his mother's house in Sicily “to stay out of trouble.”
The judge had allowed him to stay with his mother until the end of September, insisted the lawyer, reminding the court that in prison, “drug problems tended to get worse.”
Sammut interjected to point out that the defendant’s mother had filed an application asking to withdraw a bail guarantee which she had provided in another case, but the defence lawyer replied that a compromise had been reached, in terms of which Cutajar would be allowed to reside with his mother in Sicily. “He is bound to inform the police of his presence in Malta within 24 hours of arrival, but was arrested immediately,” complained the lawyer.
The court denied bail in view of both the man’s drug problem, and his criminal record, explaining that Cutajar “cannot be described as trustworthy” and saying that it was not convinced that he would obey his bail conditions if he were to be released from arrest. It also ordered Cutajar’s probation officer to continue to keep tabs on him during these proceedings.
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