Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/834699
2 MATTHEW AGIUS A 16-year-old youth from Tarxien has been remanded in custody after being charged with a number of thefts of electronic equipment from St Thomas More Middle School in Tarxien this month. The items stolen include cash, cheques, camcorders, photographic cameras, tablet computers, laptops, mobile phones, external hard drives and fidget spinners. Inspectors Spiridione Zam- mit and Hubert Cini charged the youth, who is not being named on account of his age, with four counts of aggra- vated theft. The youth was also charged with criminal damage to property, handling stolen goods, breaching pro- bation and recidivism. He had already been jailed in the past, the inspector said. The accused – tall, wiry and scruffy in appearance – did not seem unduly perturbed as he stood in the dock. His law- yer, George Anton Buttigieg, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. Bail was request- ed. Buttigieg said that the de- fence was denying the charges because the accused had only taken some of the items. The accused also has a drug prob- lem which he had tried to ad- dress, he said, explaining that at the age of 14, the accused had been prepared to go to It- aly to receive treatment for his addiction to synthetic drugs but his father had not signed off on the trip. The court pointed out that arguments on the merits were irrelevant as it could only de- cide on bail at this stage if the accused was pleading not guilty. The prosecution opposed bail. "In the space of three weeks, Tarxien school was robbed four times." inspec- tor Zammit told the court. The accused had proved dif- ficult to find as he had been sleeping in village squares and other open spaces rather than at his mother's house, he said. "There is a strong chance that he will commit the same crimes again because he has a problem with synthetic drugs and to a lesser extent, canna- bis." The prosecution objected to the youth being released on bail, pointing out that the boy had already spurned several chances to reform and now wanted to join his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant, in England. "If he goes to Eng- land, how are we going to get him to return?" Buttigieg argued that had the accused wanted to abscond, he would have stayed there. "He wants to go to England to assist his girlfriend who is giving birth in August. Had he really wanted to f lee, he would have stayed there, because he has already spent four months there." The lawyer expressed frus- tration at having repeatedly tried to get the boy enrolled in a drug rehabilitation pro- gramme for two years, with- out success. The accused would stay wherever the court ordered him to, said the lawyer. "Just because police didn't find him at home, but in the vil- lage square, doesn't mean he doesn't live at home." Keeping him in custody because of a risk of him re- offending didn't make sense, the lawyer said. "What will be gained if we keep him in cus- tody? If he then breaches bail, that would be another story." The court however denied bail for the reasons raised by the prosecution. It ordered that the director of prisons give the man all the treatment necessary. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2017 News PORTOMASOLIVE.COM REGISTER NOW 1 2 3 Register your personal account JOIN DEPOSIT EARN CASHBACK Place your deposit, play & participate in our promotions You're always a winner at Portomaso Live You're always a winner Troubled 16-year-old in custody for college theft Tarxien youth stole cash, cheques, camcorders, photographic cameras, tablet computers, laptops… and fidget spinners St Thomas More Middle School in Tarxien