Couple expelled from hotel used stranger's car to store their belongings

A motorist had the unusual experience last week of finding other people's belongings stored in his car in Buġibba, where he parked for a few hours.

The incident was revealed in court, where police explained that a Bulgarian couple stored their belongings in the car after having been evicted from a hotel.

Plamen Goralov, a 56-year-old builder and Penka Konstantinova, 54, were arrested after the car owner kept watch and spotted them taking out some of the items from the car.

Prosecuting inspector George Frendo said the car owner had reported that his vehicle had been broken into and damaged. 

But rather than finding out that items were stolen from it, he realised there were new contents.

The man had explained to the police how he had parked his car in Triq Port Ruman for some hours.

But when he returned later that evening, he found some items inside the car which were not his. He also noticed traces of blood inside the vehicle, along with damage.

Scene of crime officers were roped in to lift samples from the car, while investigations kicked off to track down the culprits.

Meanwhile, the car owner kept a lookout and spotted the couple trying to retrieve some items from the...