Five sentenced for stealing from England team

Four men and a woman were convicted and sentenced for stealing money and other items from the hotel rooms of some England players, South Africa's prosecution authority said on Monday.

Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesman for the National Prosecution Authority, said the incident was reported by the hotel on Saturday.

"The five involved have been arrested, they pleaded guilty and have been sentenced by a special World Cup court," Mhaga said.

They were each sentenced to three years in prison or a 6,000 rands ($791.5) fine.

South Africa set up 56 special courts to deal swiftly with cases involving visitors for the World Cup.

Mhaga said all five were employees of the Royal Marang Hotel, part of the exclusive training camp built ahead of the World Cup where the England team had been staying near Rustenburg, about 150 km north west of Johannesburg.

Police said they recovered some items including a FIFA gold medal, some British pounds, jerseys and other items to the value of about 80,000 rands ($10,550).