Maximilian Ciantar handed suspended sentence for breaching probation

Repeat offender Maximilian Ciantar was handed another suspended sentence by a court for breaching the conditions of a 2013 probation order.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, presiding, handed down a three-month jail term, suspended for four years, after Ciantar repeatedly failed to show up to meetings with his probation officer, who reported that Ciantar was no longer following a drug rehab programme. The probation period expires at the end of the month.

The court remarked how despite being given the opportunity, the accused had failed to reform himself and had not understood the nature of the charges brought against him three years ago. In light of this, the court said, he had to be treated as if he had just been convicted.

The prosecution, led by police inspector Robert Vella, said that unless he was allowed to start over, away from the influence of his family, he had little chance of succeeding.

Defence lawyer Joe Brincat argued against a jail term, asking for the probation period to be extended to allow the accused the chance to get a stable job, which he argued would be more conducive to his reformation.

The court denied this request, noting that the probation period given was the maximum allowed by law and as such could not be extended.

Ciantar first drew public condemnation in 2011, when he ran over twin girls in Attard. In another incident, he attempted to leave the scene after he hit another car, almost running over a woman in Hamrun after an argument over the collision.

Ciantar served 16 months of his two-year jail term for the Attard incident, and had his ten-year driving ban reduced to 16 months. He was later found driving in breach of that ban. His bail for that charge was revoked after he assaulted journalists reporting on his case.

Days after being released from prison in 2012, he was fined €800 for heroin possession – he has previously been fined €600 for the same charge on a different occasion.