Addiction to synthetic drugs lands man in jail

A man has been jailed for five months and ordered to submit to a drug rehabilitation programme after admitting to simple theft

In view of the crime and Vella's admission, the court observed that it had no alternative but to sentence the man to imprisonment
In view of the crime and Vella's admission, the court observed that it had no alternative but to sentence the man to imprisonment

A 21-year-old man has been jailed in the hope that it would convince him to submit to drug rehab after he confessed in court to having committed simple theft.

In an arraignment last week, prosecuting police Inspector Kylie Borg had charged Adrian Vella with having committed simple theft – that is, theft which is not aggravated by amount, violence, person, place, time or means – in St Nicholas Square, Siggiewi on the morning of 13 February. He was also accused of breaching a probation order.

Vella had pleaded guilty to the charges.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, after hearing the man's probation officer and Caritas representatives explain that the man was addicted to synthetic drugs, ruled that Vella had to submit to a drug rehabilitation programme.

In view of the crime and Vella's admission, the court observed that it had no alternative but to sentence the man to imprisonment. Vella had been given opportunities to address his drug addiction in the past but these had been unsuccessful, the magistrate noted. “The accused, therefore needs to undergo a residential drug rehabilitation programme which must take place in a controlled environment.”

“The court hopes that in the time the accused spends at Corradino Correctional Facility will strengthen his will to complete this programme, both for his sake and for that of his family,” the magistrate said.

Vella was jailed for five months in all, three months for the theft, with a further two months being added to his sentence for the breach of his probation order.