La Valette's sword broken by teenager

A 15 year-old Russian student who broke the sword hilt off the statue of La Valette in the capital city has been ordered to pay for its repair by a magistrate's court.

Police inspector Daryl Borg arraigned the youth before magistrate Joe Mifsud this morning, accusing him of causing damage to the statue, through negligence.

The broken hilt on the La Valette statue

The court was told that the youth, who cannot be named on account of his age, had been trying to clamber up the statue, which had only been erected in the Grandmaster’s eponymous city a few years ago. The teenager used the sword’s hilt as a hand hold.

Lawyer Martin Fenech, appointed as legal aid to the accused, entered a guilty plea.
In view of the boy’s admission, the court ordered him to pay €1,750 for the statue’s repair and conditionally discharged him for one year.

The MaltaToday is informed that the amount will be settled today, by the boy's school.