Court gives suspended sentence after hearing that thief has reformed

A man who, together with two accomplices, broke into the headquarters of the Fgura Girl Guides in 2009, got off lightly after a court heard how he had worked hard to keep on the straight and narrow since the incident.

25-year old Ian Mizzi admitted before Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia to charges of stealing €265 worth of items including soft toys, stationery, trophies, torches and a first aid box from the organization during the night of 2 May, 2009.

He also pleaded guilty to charges of causing voluntary damage to the building’s front door, breaching a previous probation order and relapsing.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti, appearing on behalf of Mizzi, had asked the court to take into account the accused’s early admission and cooperation with the police as well as the fact that he had already paid for one third of the damages.

Probation officers had also submitted a pre-sentencing report that explained how the man had gone through what they described as “a turbulent period during his adolescence”, but had now cut his ties with the bad company he kept at the time, finding a stable job and successfully reintegrating into society.

After this incident there were no further run-ins with the law, read the report, which recommended a community service sentence be handed down.

Both the defence and prosecution had argued against a custodial sentence, saying that in this case it would be counter-productive.

This however led to a legal quandary, as the court would ordinarily have been constrained to impose a prison sentence due to the fact that the crimes took place during the operative periods of a suspended sentence and a conditional discharge.

Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia took note of the fact that the accused had done his utmost for the last four years to distance himself from his criminal past and find work.

Heeding the advice of the pre-sentencing report, the court held that the extraordinary circumstances of the case merited the application of article 21 of the criminal code, which allows the court to award punishments below the minimum for “special and exceptional reasons.”  

Mizzi was handed a 10-month jail term suspended for 2 years and ordered to complete 100 hours community work. He was also ordered to pay €100 to the Girl Guides.