Drug treatment order for young thief

Justin Mallia, a 19-year-old who pleaded guilty to aggravated theft of an electronic device from an electronics shop in Sliema, was handed a seven-month prison term, which was suspended for two years.

Presiding Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, after hearing a case officer describe how the accused is suffering from heavy dependency on cocaine and marijuana, which is why he carried out the theft in the first place, slapped the accused with a two-year supervision order as well as a treatment order.

Both come with their own set of conditions – the accused must be urine-tested for narcotics no less than once a month and must submit to whichever rehabilitation programme or drug treatment his treatment officer assigns. Both the treatment officer and his supervisor must report to the courts on whether Mr Mallia is following the necessary programme in order to reintegrate back into society.

A supervisor is also empowered to visit the accused at his place of residence in order to ensure that he is recovering and reforming himself properly.

The accused had been charged with committing aggravated theft, together with his accomplice 23-year-old Barclay Vella, from the Forestals Matrix outlet on 4 July 2016. The charges say that the value of the stolen item was no less than €232 but did not exceed €2,329.

Mr Vella was handed down a 12-month jail term last January, seven months for carrying out the theft and a further five months for breaching a probation order from a previous case.

Following a case officer’s recommendation, Magistrate Bugeja found that the accused was not adequately suited to perform community work because of his drug dependency.

Inspector Mark Mercieca prosecuted.