Ghaxaq men jailed over theft and property damage spree

Two men from Ghaxaq have been jailed after pleading guilty to a string of six thefts in which private property was damaged between December 2015 and January 2016.

Aidan Bartolo, 21, was sentenced to 28 months in prison and Clyde Mallia, 20, was sentenced to 20 months by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech. The magistrate took into accounts the fact that Mallia was a minor at the time of the commission of the offences, reducing his punishment according to law.

Bartolo and Mallia admitted to having committed a string of six thefts between the 13th December 2015 and 28th January 2016, from shops and kiosks in Hamrun, Msida and Gudja.

Bartolo had denied and was found not guilty of robbing and damaging a kiosk in Sliema in December 2015. Likewise, Mallia had denied stealing cash, cigarettes and alcohol from a football club in Gudja.

Amongst its considerations on punishment, the court noted that the men had pleaded guilty at an advanced stage in the proceedings and that Mallia had been underage when he committed the offences, which meant that his punishment was to be diminshed.

On Bartolo, the court said it could not uphold the defence’s request for probation, after taking into account his untrustworthiness as demonstrated by his updated criminal record.

In addition, Bartolo was already serving a jail sentence for a separate offence and therefore the court was precluded from imposing a suspended sentence, said the magistrate.

Inspectors James Grech and Daryl Borg prosecuted. Lawyer Amadeus Cachia appeared for Mallia, whilst Bartolo was assisted by lawyer Veronique Dalli.