Teenager warned to change her ways or face 10 years in prison

The 17-year-old is being charged with harassing and threatening her mother, but pleaded not guilty

A magistrate has warned a 17 year-old girl to change her ways or face a lengthy stay in prison, after she was charged with harassing and threatening her mother.

The girl, who is not being named on account of her age, is no stranger to the courts and was already on bail for a separate offence, Magistrate Ian Farrugia heard Inspector Eman Hayman say this afternoon.

The court heard how the accused would often go to her mother’s house and cause a commotion, leading the mother to eventually file a police complaint.

The girl’s defence lawyers, Matthew Xuereb and Alex Scerri Herrera, entered a not guilty plea and argued that the complainants were using the proceedings “for their own ends.”

“Unfortunately, the girl needs help,” said Xuereb, requesting bail.

The accused lived with her mother in Cospicua but was now moving to Xghajra with her aunt, he reassured the court.

Magistrate Farrugia sternly warned the girl, who has appeared in court on similar charges multiple times, to change her path, telling her “today the lawyers are getting you out on bail, but ten years of prison will come down on your head if you keep going down this road and come before me again.”

He released the girl from arrest, ordering her to sign a bail book three times a week, observe a curfew and stay away from Cospicua. Bail was secured by a €500 deposit and €2500 personal guarantee.