Court to deliver verdict in theft case involving escaped Moroccan man

A Vilnius court is due to deliver its verdict on Monday in the theft case against a Moroccan man who escaped from police escort officers last week, LRT reports. The court’s representative, Giedrius Janonis, confirmed the hearing to BNS.

The verdict is scheduled for before noon at a regular hearing and will be delivered orally. Judge Rasa Volungevičienė heard the case under a shortened evidence examination.

Issam Toubalis, born in 2003, is accused of breaking into a shop on May 24 and stealing just over 1,700 euros from its cash register. He has admitted guilt.

The case drew public attention after Toubalis ran away on October 13 while two Vilnius County police officers were escorting him from court. He was found on Debesijos Street in the capital that evening, about five hours after a search was launched.

Police opened a pre-trial investigation into the escape and an internal review of the escort officers’ actions. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said there would be a thorough assessment of the officers’ conduct, the search operation and decisions by their superiors. He said Toubalis had come to Lithuania to study but was removed from the student register in June and lost his residence permit. Katelynas criticised the officers over the escape.