THREE convicted professional prowlers will be back behind bars following their latest burglary.
The Lower Criminal Court yesterday found the Bahrainis, aged in their 30s, guilty of theft and trespassing, and jailed them for three years each.
They broke into a businessman’s home in Galali in August last year, while the latter was abroad.
They used a rented vehicle to commit the burglary.
One of them then scaled the fence before letting in the co-defendants.
They stole furniture and electronics worth BD6,000 before fleeing.
However, they were apprehended when their crime was caught on CCTV cameras at the property.
The defendants had been previously jailed for three years each by the same court in connection with a spate of burglaries.
However, a 40-year-old Yemeni owner of a second-hand goods shop who bought the stolen items was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
“Three defendants have been found guilty of trespassing and theft due to sufficient evidence against them,” read the court ruling.
“Video footage taken by CCTV cameras at the home showed the defendants breaking into the property.
“They then moved the furniture and electronics into the vehicle which they had rented.
“They sold the stolen items to the fourth defendant, who was acquitted of the charges, due to lack of evidence against him.”
Defence lawyer Khalifa Al Shajera, representing the 40-year-old businessman, successfully argued that his client did not know that the items sold to him were stolen.
“He receives second-hand items daily and he is not required to ask the source of these items,” Mr Al Shajera told a leading judge.
“It is just not possible to know the source of each item he receives.
“He buys used items to sell, and he was not aware that the items given to him by the defendants were stolen.”
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