Two men have been sentenced by the Brussels Correctional Court to prison terms of 20 and eight months for committing multiple thefts at Brussels Airport.
The duo first attracted attention on 9 October when they stole a laptop bag from a traveller in the airport’s departure hall. Security cameras captured one of the men distracting the victim while the other made off with the bag. By the time the victim reported the theft, the laptop was already in central Brussels.
“The images of both perpetrators were distributed, and they were recognised by the Brussels police and the federal railway police as F. and J.,” the prosecutor stated. “F. also committed thefts on 13 October and 20 November in the departure hall, stealing laptops and cameras, but was finally apprehended on 27 November. We were later able to connect him to two additional thefts.”
The prosecution demanded a 20-month prison sentence for F. and six months for J. J., who was absent from court. F.’s lawyer pleaded unsuccessfully for a suspended sentence.
“My client has been living in the country for several years without a residence permit and realises he will never be regularised,” the lawyer argued. “He survives on undeclared work and occasionally steals to support himself. After his release, he intends to return to Morocco.”
The court was unmoved by this plea and sentenced F. to 20 months in prison, while his accomplice, J., received an eight-month sentence.
