Il-Porporina jailed for a crime in 1992

Alfred Bugeja, also known as Il-Porporina, was yesterday jailed for two-and-a-half years for a crime committed in 1992. The prison term was handed down by the Court of Appeal, which reversed a magistrate’s ruling clearing Mr Bugeja of a string of charges including carrying out a hold-up, stealing a car and attempting to rob a bank. Following the acquittal, the Attorney General appealed, contending that the magistrate had incorrectly evaluated the evidence and asked the Appeals Court to overturn the judgment. Mr Justice David Scicluna confirmed the acquittal insofar as the hold-up and the car theft but found Mr Bugeja guilty of the attempted robbery of the branch of the now defunct Mid-Med Bank at the University and of relapsing. The judge took into consideration that Mr Bugeja had a long criminal record and had been jailed in 2002 for crimes committed in 1992, which happened the day after he tried to rob the bank. He also had 19 previous convictions for a range of offences, the judge said before jailing him again.