Teenagers charged with MCAST Mosta mugging released on bail

Three teenage boys have admitted to charges relating to a mugging at a Mosta public garden which left their victim needing stitches.

The defendants’ names are not being published, at the court’s orders.

The first two youths to be charged, a 15 year-old and 16 year-old, both from Qawra were accused of theft, aggravated by violence, place and value, as well as with grievously injuring the victim, causing him to fear violence would be used against him, threatening and attacking him. They were also charged with breaching the peace.

Inspector Stephen Gulia, prosecuting together with Inspector Godwin Scerri and lawyer Joseph Azarov from the Office of the Attorney General, told the court that the police had received a report of an assault near MCAST last Wednesday. Thieves had snatched a laptop from its owner’s hands in Gnien l-Gharusa tal-Mosta, before running off with it. The owner had given chase, only to be attacked by the thieves and wounded, he said. The man’s injuries required stitches and so were classified as grievous, the inspector explained.

A third man, although not directly involved in the aggression, had been acting as a lookout, he said, adding that CCTV footage from the area clearly showed the faces of the assailants and the lookout, who were subsequently identified. 

Lawyer Jacob Magri, assisting one of the defendants, asked whether his client had cooperated with the police and released a statement. Inspector Gulia replied that after settling down, all three had assisted the police investigation.

A guilty plea was filed and later confirmed, after the court warned the defendants that the charges carried a possible prison sentence of up to five years in length.

The defence’s request for a probation order was upheld by the court, after which the lawyers requested that the guilty parties be released on bail until sentenced.

Azarov told the court that the prosecution was not objecting to bail in the circumstances, but insisted that strict conditions and guarantees were necessary, pointing out that the offenders had agreed on the plan long before the crime was committed. 

The youths were released on bail, secured by a personal guarantee of €5,000. They were ordered to sign a bail book twice a week and observe a curfew.
Lawyer Maria Karlsson assisted the 15 year-old as legal aid counsel.

Next to be arraigned was the alleged lookout, also 16 years old. He was charged with complicity in the offences which his friends were accused of. 

Lawyer Alex Scerri Herrera, representing him as defence counsel, informed the court that he, too, wanted to plead guilty. The youth’s guilty plea was repeated after the court gave him time to reconsider, at which point the defence requested a pre-sentencing report.
When this was upheld, his lawyer asked for bail, which was granted against the same conditions as the other two youths.

The court also issued a protection order in favour of the victim.