Pickpockets jailed for 13 months as court says it wants to deter such thieves

Four Romanians were each jailed for 13 months today as a court said it wanted to send a strong message to deter pick pockets. Stefan Razvan-Aurel, 32, Marian Ciucisan, 51, Alexandra Buzatu, 32 and Stefan Marius, 34 on Friday admitted to involvement in 24 pick-pocketing thefts between July 8 and last Monday on Arriva buses. Police inspector Michael Mallia said their arraignment was part of a major investigation into 250 thefts which had been happening since May. The police knew they were not the only gang operating on the islands, he said, adding that they operated very discreetly and were very difficult to trace. By their own admission the Romanians would target middle aged to elderly people because they were more vulnerable. Most of their crimes were on foreigners with tourists having their passports and cash stolen. Inspector Mallia said that besides the monetary loss, the court also had to consider the psychological trauma which even harmed society. He noted that police campaigns had to be launched to make the people aware of pickpocketing.