Two thieves from Marseille have been sentenced to one year in jail for robbing a man at the BNP cash machine on Boulevard Albert 1er on New Year’s Eve last year. One of the miscreants watched the code being entered while the second grabbed the card from the elderly victim, who alerted a security guard at the Christmas Fair in the port. The two men were soon arrested, Monaco’s Criminal Court was told.

The thieves had booked into one of the Principality’s top hotels for the night, apparently in the hope of executing a number of robberies during the New Year celebrations. One of the suspects had 15 convictions in France since 1998, while his companion had twenty. They were not in court last week to hear the sentences, a fact that was regretted by the prosecutor, Alexia Brianti.
Counsel for the defence argued in vain that the theft of the bankcard was simply a case of too much alcohol. Arrest warrants for the two were issued.