Twins jailed over muggings on elderly victims

A pair of fraternal twins who pleaded guilty to mugging five elderly persons have been jailed.

Paul and Roderick Scicluna, both 40 had been arraigned in January, accused of several counts of aggravated theft.

The accused had pleaded guilty at an early stage in the proceedings.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, noted the guilty plea, taking into account the serious nature of the crimes with which the accused were being found guilty.

“These are cowardly crimes carried out on the most vulnerable of people; senior citizens who have little to no capacity to offer resistance, and this to finance the accused’s destructive drug habit,” she said in her ruling.

The court weighed the men’s early admission against their criminal records. Noting that Paul Scicluna had been jailed in 2018 for two thefts, it said the charge of recidivism only applied to him.

Roderick Scicluna had been encouraged to commit the crimes by his brother, the court had heard, but this notwithstanding, it said that at 40 years of age, Roderick was not a boy and could think for himself.

Both men were found guilty of theft aggravated by violence committed on a person over 60 – crimes which are punishable by up to nine years of imprisonment.

The court did not apply the maximum sentence, however, in view of the men’s early guilty plea, Roderick Scicluna was jailed for 38 months, while Paul Scicluna, who alone had also been charged with holding persons against their will, was jailed for 54 months and fined €116.47.

The court also imposed a three-year restraining order in favour of the victims.

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