A 21-year-old Armenian called Hayk has been living in Belgium for 2 years. Recently he received assistance from Public Social Welfare Centre (CPAS). Before that his life was a torture, said La Nouvelle Gazette.

Hayk admitted stealing a bottle of alcohol from supermarket Cora in Shatelino on April 18 last year.

"Not to drink but to eat: I wanted to sell it," he explained to the judge.

He was sentenced to one year in prison for theft with violence, as while escaping he pushed a guard, who tried to hold him. Nevertheless, the judge appointed a conditional sentence for a period exceeding the time he already spent in prison.

The difficulty was to convey that message to the defendant, who did not know a word in French.