A 32-year-old Romanian has appeared in court in Monaco charged with stealing a luxury bag from a vehicle and breaking into a boat on Port Hercule. On April 16 the defendant broke the window of a Lotus and stole a Louis Vuitton bag holding a wallet, driver’s licence, identity papers, three bank cards, 50 euros in cash and a laptop, according to local French daily Monaco Matin.

On July 10, he told police officers that he broke into the yacht’s cabin because he was hungry and wanted “to sleep in a real bed.” The yacht’s captain alerted the police just before midnight.

In an attempt at mitigation, the culprit told the criminal court that his billionaire victims would not be unduly inconvenienced by his actions.

Interpol has a record of two convictions in Switzerland for similar offences, one for theft in Spain, plus another count of aggression, for which he was sentenced to 16 months in jail, and further offences in the UK, in the Netherlands and in Denmark. In Monaco he faces a prison term of between 45 days and two months.