Jail for handling stolen cars

A Moroccan couple were yesterday jailed for their part in the trafficking of stolen vehicles between Spain and Morocco through Gibraltar.

Mohamed El Hadad, 53, and his wife 40-year old Fatiha Abbas pleaded guilty to three counts of handling stolen goods.

The couple was arrested by RGP Special Branch officers in June at a local car-park, whilst in the process of transferring the contents of a vehicle displaying Moroccan registration plates to one displaying Spanish registration plates.

Enquiries revealed both vehicles had been reported stolen in Cadiz and Getafe.

El Hadad was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and ten months imprisonment in respect of two of the counts, with no separate penalty applied in respect of the third count.

Both sentences will be served concurrently.

Abbas was sentenced to ten months imprisonment and eight months imprisonment in respect of two of the counts, with no separate penalty applied in respect of the third count.

Again both sentences will be served concurrently.

The two vehicles subject to these charges have since been returned to their rightful owners in Spain.